There had been a rise in spending on internet products and services by the Indian small and medium businesses (SMBs) having up to 999 employees. According to the AMI study, it was revealed that an amount of US $1.45 billion was spent in 2009 by the SMBs in India. When compared with the other ICT products and technologies, it was found that there had been the highest year-on-year growth of internet spending among Indian SMBs.
The study revealed that no subscription for broadband service was observed in more than half of SMBs owning PCs. DSL and cable modem were found to be the most preferable means by the SMBs in India among other internet-access technologies. Internet was found to be a key strategic issue for majority of SMBs in India. However, many of them were not satisfied with the infrastructure at the time of the survey. There was a necessity for improving internet or networking bandwidth/connection speed.
It was reported that some kind of digital social media was used for business or professional purposes by about nine-in-ten internet using SMBs in India. Professional social networking sites such as LinkenIn and general social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter were used for marketing purposes. They were also being used for maintenance of contacts; advertisements; business promotions; and recruitment of new employees.