According to AMI-Partners study, Indian Small and Medium Businesses will spend US$ 1.2 billion to strengthen their Internet infrastructures and enhance their Internet access.
The study has revealed that compared to last year, online spending will increase by 33 percent to reach US$ 300 million his year. The top priority of Indian SMBs is to build a basic Internet connectivity infrastructure that would serve as a backbone for future adoption of advanced technologies like virtual private networks, especially for larger medium-sized businesses, said AMI-Partners. According to the study, Indian SMBs are starting to view the Internet as an “intrinsic part of their overall business operations”, instead of just another technology for facilitating business transactions. More than 60 percent of Internet-related spending by SMBs will be on Internet access technologies, and investments on Internet access are poised to grow 21 percent this year. The research house noted that while more than 90 percent of midsize businesses consider broadband usage a priority, nearly 70 percent of small businesses indicated that deploying broadband access or enhancing broadband Internet speed is a “vital strategic focus area” in the next 12 months.
