India to have 526 million internet users by 2018: Cisco

Cisco has showcased three products conceptualised, architected and designed out of India to help enable the vision of a digitised nation.

In India, with a rapidly increasing number of people, devices, machines and sensors coming online across the Internet of Everything, companies require new capabilities to succeed. As India digitises, the way in which applications are architected and delivered is being shaped by the demands of Big Data, the Internet of Everything, mobility, video and cloud.

According to the Cisco Visual Networking Index 2013-2018, India will have 526 million total Internet users and 1.5 billion networked devices by 2018. Video will be 62 per cent of India's mobile data traffic and the gigabyte equivalent of all movies ever made will cross India's IP networks every 2 hours by 2018.

The three products, from the Cisco India Development Centre demonstrated the company's ability to create products and solutions for the next generation of communications technologies.

Cisco Visual Networking Index 2013-2018 also reported that mobile data traffic in India will grow 24-fold from 2013 to 2018, a compound annual growth rate of 88 per cent. This explosion of demand for mobility from citizens, to small and large companies, and to the government will require a robust mobile Internet network and powerful enterprise connectivity.

In a Digital India, the rapidly growing mobile network requires a multi-gigabit fast, reliable and temperature-hardened access network while enterprise connectivity needs a dense and fast aggregation network.

Amit Phadnis, President (Engineering and India Site Leader), Cisco, said, “The world is changing at an unprecedented pace. In 2014, an estimated 77 billion apps will be downloaded worldwide while our digital universe continues to double every two years. In India, an average of 5 million people join the Internet every month. More than ever before, the Internet of Everything can play an integral role in driving growth, innovation, and productivity in industries such as healthcare, retail, e-commerce and education. We are thrilled that the three products we demonstrated are made from India, made for India and will help enable a Digital India."