CIOL:Internet users reach 37 million

CHENNAI: The Internet users in India have reached 37 million in the month of September 2006, up from 33 million in March 2006 and the number of "active users" has increased to 25 million from 21.1 million for the same period, according to the findings of a joint research conducted by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International.

The primary survey for the study was conducted in early 2006 amongst 16,500 households covering 65,000 individuals across 26 major metros and small towns in India, with additional coverage of 10,000 business and 250 cyber café owners. The survey did not include rural areas.

According to the findings, youth are the main drivers of Internet usage in India. College students and those below the age of 35 are the biggest segment on the Internet. Besides the youth, the Internet hungry small towns are further fuelling the growth. Smaller cities and towns have shown a whopping 142 per cent YoY growth and now account for 25 per cent of all Internet users.

Commenting on the survey, Dr Subho Ray, president, IAMAI says, "Although there is a marginal revision of the earlier IAMAI number for the year, given the rapid growth of internet business and government's massive e-Governance programme, it was time to look into the numbers more stringently. This will help better business decisions on part of the industry as well as better resource planning by the government."

On the future development, Mohan Krishnan, vice president and country manager, eTechnology Group at IMRB, said, "The next round of growth will be driven by new and innovative applications such as blogs, P2P, video on demand and online gaming. While the old favorites such as email, chat and IM will drive first time users to the medium."

The study estimates that the Internet User base is likely to cross the 40 million mark by March 2007, when the "ever" user base is likely to hit 42 million and the active user base is likely to hit 28 million.

© CyberMedia News

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