Indian mobile Internet users to touch 164.8 million by 2015

The number of people surfing the Internet using mobiles in India, the world's second largest mobile market after China, is set to touch 164.8 million by 2015, a report by global consultancy firm KPMG said on Tuesday.

KPMG's 'The SMAC Code ? Embracing New Technologies for future business' report further revealed that Indians hooking on to social networking sites provides opportunities to firm's for using social media to engage customers, brand building, product launches, etc.

"The mobile Internet users in the country are expected to grow from 4.1 million users in 2009 to 164.8 million in 2015 at a CAGR of 85 percent," the report revealed.

India has emerged as the second largest mobile market globally, behind only China. With over 870 million mobile subscribers, businesses are jumping the opportunity, it said.

"Indian Internet users are also increasingly using social media, which in turn is providing opportunities for enterprises to leverage social media strategy for engaging with customers, brand building, product launches and for knowing their customers," it added.

The social media usage is primarily driven by the rising number of active Internet users, who are accessing Internet through host of devices, it said.

"Enterprises are increasingly leveraging social media for customer engagement and brand building, as more and more individuals are becoming active Internet users and using social media," it added.

Besides, the proliferation of smart devices and rising mobile Internet usage has supported growth of active Internet users in the country, KPMG's report said.

"Social media platforms are not only restricted to the social networking sites such as Facebook and LinkedIn, rather extended to various forms of social media including YouTube, blogs, social bookmarking, geo-location sites and daily deals," it added.

As the social media modes differ, so their application and priority from business to business. Moreover, changing business dynamics influences enterprise decision to select a social media platform, the report said.

On the global social media scene, KPMG said: "The social commerce market is forecast to reach USD 30 billion by 2015.

Leading global retailers are spending between 20-25 percent of their advertising budget on social media channels."

Nearly 90 percent of the top global banks use social networking to achieve customer engagement, it added.

Mobile technologies can be used to cut the cost of a financial transaction by up to 80 percent, it said.