Google bets on Internet growth in India

Internet giant, Google expects Indias Internet growth to be driven by mobile users, predicting that they will form the majority of new Internet users in the country as low-priced Smartphones will be available.India now has 100 million Internet users, but still the third largest user base is behind China and the United States, according to silicon India on Monday. The number is expected to grow to 300 million in the next three years. The mobile Internet boom will be driven by increased usage of Smartphones, it noted. Now, only 10 million of Indias 870 million mobile customers use a Smartphone, a figure Google, maker of the Android mobile operating system, hopes would grow significantly.Android Smartphone prices have fallen sharply in the past one year with local Indian handset makers unveiling cheaper phones. The cheapest Android phone costs 4,280 at online retailer Flipkart, while LG Electronics and Samsung have Android models that cost less than 7,000, according to the report.Apples iPhone 3GS costs 20, 900 at top mobile phone carrier Bharti Airtel. High-speed third-generation mobile services, meanwhile, have been slow to take off in India since there were rolled out earlier this year, with an estimated 10 to 15 million users.Google unveiled an initiative to offer free websites to small and medium-sized businesses in India, something it has done in 18 other countries. Its aim is to bring half a million such businesses online in the next three years. The country is home to an estimated eight million small and medium businesses, of which about 400,000 have a website and 100,000 have active online presence.
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