India May Threaten China for King of Netizens

India could be second only to China in terms of Internet usage by 2004, according to a report by Credit Lyonnais Securities Asia. This explosive growth would be dependent on the availability of cheaper PCs and Net access through cable television, but the number of Internet users in India could increase as much as 11-fold to 30 million in four years time.

Broadband access via cable is important to Internet growth in India because there are more televisions and cable connections in India than there are PCs and telephone lines.

Other estimates on the number of Internet users in India come from IDC, which predicts 17 million Internet users in India in the next five years, and NASSCOM, the industry association for the Internet in India, which says there are currently 2.6 million Indians with Internet access.