India shining – not online yet!

India is known for its booming growth rate and positions itself as the world’s leading supplier of low-cost, high-quality intellectual capital! From call-centres to software programmers, India makes them cheap and good! Travel sites have recently joined the fray as they dip into the leisure and lifestyle aspirations of India’s spend-happy, always reliable middle-class. The Indian travel market is worth $120 mln and expected to reach $1 bln by 2010. An emarketer study, however, points to the wide gap between India’s online aspirations and actual Internet access. India’s Internet penetration is a measly 3% while China, S. Korea and Japan are at 10%, 61% and 70% respectively! Internet usage is expected to scorch ahead to keep up with the country’s dynamic economy and very promising e-commerce market. Can India catch up on the Broadband revolution – videos, streaming media, communities and sharing?. Slow and steady does not win the Internet race!