Mobile Internet user base in India to cross 371 million by June 2016: Report

India's mobile Internet user base will cross 371 million by June 2016, 21 percent increase from 306 million users reported in December 2015, the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) said in its report.

Of the current 306 million Internet users, 219 million people were said to be from urban India, which registered a year-over-year growth of 71 percent. The user base in rural India also witnessed a record growth. It has reportedly gone up by 93 percent from December 2014 to reach 87 million in December 2015.

By June 2016, urban people will contribute to 71 percent of mobile Internet users with 262 million, whereas rural India will have 109 million mobile Internet users.

The IAMAI study also revealed that for over 50 percent of Indian mobile Internet users, they give more priority to the smartphone brand while buying a phone. About 28 percent give more importance to the operating system on the phone, while 19 percent look for the presence of secondary camera in the smartphone.

The usage of secondary camera has increased overtime and is getting much importance from the manufacturers/OEMs by providing high resolution and in some cases, dedicated flash, the report noted.

It also dished out interesting facts on the difference of preference between the genders as well. The report said men give more importance to the brand of the smartphone and the number of SIM slots, whereas the women are more inclined towards operating system and presence of secondary camera.

The report comes a day after Counterpoint Research study stated that India had replaced the US as the world's second largest smartphone market, with China still at the top spot.

Also read: India replaces the US as world's second-biggest smartphone market: Counterpoint Research

This is an exciting phase in the smartphone business as Indian consumers will be spoilt for choices with several brands vying to get major market share offering feature-rich phones at dirt cheap prices.

MNC brands such as Samsung, Xiaomi, LeEco (aka LeTV) and Lenovo (& Motorola) have been launching numerous budget phones in the last few months and are expected to intensify competition among Indian players.

More than 20 mobile phone makers have already started to assemble the devices locally and this apparently results in lowering devices' prices, leading to increase in smartphone sales in India.