Let’s admit it, no one likes when the Internet shuts down. Not only it’s hard on people but it’s also not good for the country’s economy. In every circle where the Internet is down, telecom companies lose ₹2.45 crore per hour.
According to Firstpost, a report by Cellular Operator Association of India (COAI) Indian telecom operators, which counts Vodafone Idea, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio as members, faces a major loss during Internet shutdowns.
The times when the Internet services go down, it’s not just telecom companies that face monetary losses, it also affects several businesses like cab operators and food delivery businesses who use the Internet to operate.
Rajan Mathews, Director General of COAI, says that to the loss figure of ₹2.45 crore, one could add another 50% to account for the loss of businesses in the area where the Internet goes down. This brings the total estimated loss per hour to around ₹3.67 crores.
According to a 2018 study by the Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations (ICRIER), between 2012 and 2017, the total hours of Internet shutdowns added up to over 16,000 hours which result in an estimated loss of whopping $3.04 billion (over ₹21,000 crores).