India to have no 2G internet subscribers by 2019: Report
According to a report by market research firm CyberMedia Research (CMR), India will have no 2G internet subscribers left by June 2019. The current mobile user base is inching towards such a scenario due to the pocket-friendly cost of 4G chipsets and a competitive reduction in mobile data rates of all service providers. Here's more on the research findings.
Reliance Jio helps in providing 4G access to users
According to the CMR report, this projection was formed after the entry of Reliance Jio in the Indian telecom service provider market. While the decline rate of wireless narrowband and low-speed internet users was 3% per quarter before Jio, the rate spurred up four times to 12% every quarter after Jio, the report stated.
4G comes to entry-level smartphones
"With the 4G cellular capability now in a feature phone as well as bundling of entry-level smartphones by various incumbent operators, the pace towards 4G becoming the default wireless internet access is on the rise," the report said.
Airtel, Vodafone struggling to compete with Jio
To combat Jio's stiff competition, service providers like Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular, and Vodafone have started offering incentives to users like cash back schemes in partnership with entry-level smartphone vendors. These companies are still recovering from Jio's big blow when the latter offered free services to all its users in the first few months of its launch.
Reliance Jio and the trust it built with users
Since its entry into the Indian market in September 2016, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio has successfully disrupted the country's telecom industry. According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Jio leads the race for the most number of new telecom subscribers, with it adding 4.7 million users month on month in the first two quarters of 2017.
