The Indian Internet market is poised for a rapid growth. The number of Internet subscribers will be crossing the 10-million mark by early 2005 with the total number of Internet users in the country growing over 28 million.

This is as per the projections of Access Media International, a leading media research and consulting firm.

India currently has 4.2 million Internet users. According to Access Media, the subscriber base will experience compounded annual growth rates (CAGRs) for the five-year period ending 2005-06 at 60.067 per cent and 63.081 per cent under realistic and optimistic scenario respectively.

According to the study: “The corporate market is expected to grow at over 65 per cent and 75 per cent in the next two years respectively before the growth rate declines to below 40 per cent.”

“The corporate Internet base, comprising different access technologies, is still showing strong growth and this trend is expected to continue through the financial year ending 2003,” points out Pravir Ganguly, Director, Research & Consulting, Access Media in Asia-Pacific.

The corporate share of Internet connections will equal that of the consumers and SOHO segment combined by the 2003-04.

“The corporate segment is expected to grow at a rate of just below 40 percent over the next five year period. The share of corporate segment will be around 35 percent by 2005-06,” the study says.

As per the study, among vertical segments media organizations continue to record maximum usage in terms of daily dial-up hours followed by IT companies and telecom companies. Travel and tourism firms take the third place moving past discreet manufacturers, banks and financial institutions and hospitals/medical segments.

According to the survey, brand loyalty among the dial-up subscribers (especially PSTN-based) is extremely low, and users are equivocal when it comes to rating ISPs on service and connection related parameters as inconsistent.

As per the study, the service providers have not been able to come up with any strong differentiators other than pricing, which Access Media feels is not a sustainable strategy.