BENGALURU: In India, 97 per cent of the internet consumption happens through mobile phones, said a survey released by Zinnov, a market research firm that surveyed over 500 smartphone users across India.
Internet is gaining more prevalence in tier II and III cities as well as rural communities in India through fast and affordable data plans and cheap handsets, the study said.
It also observed that internet penetration across rural India has increased by 35 per cent in 2018 compared to single-digit growth in urban areas.
With deeper penetration of mobile phones and internet services, consumers are turning gradually towards content-driven platforms, moving away from traditional TV and cable services.
With nearly 430 million people having acess to 4G services, 76 per cent of the survey respondents preferred to access internet on their mobiles over desktops, which signals that the country is moving fast towards mobile-first economy, it further said.
Nearly 80 per cent of the study participants said that they choose to check their mobile phones first as soon as they wake up in the morning, which has thrown myriad opportunities before over the top (OTT) content providers to leverage India’s broadening internet consumer base.
The survey further highlighted that 36 per cent of respondents preferred recommended content over searching for content on their own, highlighting that content moderation and personalisation will be a key online content preference going forward.
Many global and homegrown content providers have therefore forayed into the Indian market with subscription and even free original content models.
Nearly 68 per cent of the survey respondents said that they preferred video-based content over the text type and nearly 70 per cent of the consumers preferring content in regional languages due to which the vernacularity has remained the top focus of the content providers.
“The increasingly affordable high-speed Internet available today is bolstering the number of 4G subscribers, making it a strategic priority for both global and local platforms.
"In each new wave of content platforms in India, the time taken for the best in class platforms to reach a significant milestone of 30 mn daily active users has been reducing by half,” said Praveen Bhadada, partner and global head – Digital Transformation, Zinnov.
For content platforms to scale in India, it will be crucial to understand the winning imperatives of innovation and localisation, he said.