According to a Facebook-commissioned report on Internet access, four of five Indians will be able to afford the internet if data costs fall by 66 %. But Indian telecom operators already run data services at 11 % loss, making cost-cutting difficult.
The statistics mean that a data plan currently priced at Rs.100 should not cost more than Rs.34 if country wants to make the internet affordable for 80 % of its population. The internet reached 29 % of Indians in September 2015. It could rise to 39 % by June 2016.
But if it reaches 100 % of the population, India’s GDP can be increased by an extra $1 trillion by 2020, according to the Facebook-commissioned report, published this month.
The report further says that global GDP could grow by an extra $6.7 trillion by 2020, if the internet reaches every human being. And in that case, the GDP of China and India could reach $2.089 trillion nearly a third of the estimated world output.
