Although some of the world’s most talented web developers are from India, relatively few people actually access the internet from their home and fewer yet recognise the value of more reliable and faster connectivity. This is an ongoing conundrum for many nations in the West that enjoy websites created by Indian developers but recognise that few people there have internet connections faster than 2G, with the avergae broadband speed just 3.5Mbps – reminiscent of the times when dialup was the only solution. Why then is there such a technological contradiction between the technology they produce for the rest of the world and the technology they ‘enjoy’ at home?
A Few Important Statistics
If you are wondering why in India 4G connectivity still hasn’t hit the mainstream, a few important statistics might be of use. First of all, in a country numbering more than 1.25 billion people, only about 900 million are online. This is according to the World Bank figures based on a 2013 census. In 2015, as reported by CNN Money and Pew Research Center, less than 900 million people go online in India which makes that a total of 22% of the adult population. What stands out about these figures is that, again, some of the world’s leading IT technology comes from this country with a population second only to China.
Then, breaking those statistics down even further, more men than women access the Internet with 27% of men having online access but only 17% of women going on the internet. Is this a cultural/religious phenomenon or just the way it panned out? In either case, the relatively low number of internet users as opposed to the total population is what interests sociologists and IT professionals around the globe. Could it be financial concerns? If so, then 4G may be doomed to fail even before it gets off the ground.
Problems India Is Facing in Connectivity
Even though, on the surface, it appears that Indians are simply not interested in online access, there is an even bigger problem that needs to be addressed – that of infrastructure. A spokesperson from the Internet and Mobile Association of India recently remarked that connectivity around the country is, at best, “patchy”. Nilotpal Chakravarti says that even current 3G connectivity is not what it should be and is many times only registering 2G. As a result of inadequate hard wiring, routers, servers and fibre optics, there is a sense of hopelessness permeating the nation. Until those issues can be addressed (mobile access not being any better) few people may be willing to pay for faster access that can’t be reliably delivered.
Whilst there is certainly a huge portion of the population that simply is unable to afford internet access at any speed whatsoever, that doesn’t really seem to be the main problem keeping the country from upgrading speeds. It may have an impact on the problem of slow connectivity, but it is not the main concern. In the end, there truly are those who question how a country with some of the leading technological inventions also have the least need for those innovations. It is a contradiction in terms but one that may someday be a non-issue. India may surprise us all in the near future with 4G for all. We just need to wait and see.
Photograph by Stefano Ravalli