'BRICI' drives massive digital revolution

Fast-growing economies Brazil, Russia, India, China and Indonesia will drive a "massive digital revolution" in coming years as disposable incomes increase, a study released Wednesday suggested.

The Boston Consulting Group said more than 610 million people in the "BRICI" markets currently use the Internet regularly, but that number will grow to 1.2 billion by 2015 - more than three times that of the United States and Japan combined.

Annual growth will be between 9 to 20 percent, driven predominantly by young users who "will form the digital-market eco-systems that will be in place for generations to come," the US-based manage-ment consulting firm said in the study.

"Right now, 60 percent of BRICI Internet users are under the age of 35," said the report, entitled "The Internet's New Billion."

"As they earn even higher incomes and develop more complex online needs, there will be a colossal opportunity for digital companies to monetize services and products," the report said.

"Those companies that manage to do so will reap the tremendous benefits of this massive digital revolution," the report added.

Source: Global Times