India records 71mn Internet users in 2009

DELHI, INDIA: 71 million people claimed to have used Internet in 2009 according to the Internet in India Report published by the Internet and Mobile Association of India and IMRB.

Active users, those who use Internet at least once a month according the international standards of reckoning, rose from 42 million in September 2008 to 52 million in September 2009 according to the study, registering a year on year growth of 19 per cent. The ‘claimed users’ is an important category for understanding future trends in active user base.

This surge in number has been primarily due to the increased numbers of the users in the remote urban pockets (small metros and towns) and among lower socio-economic classes.

According to the report, This development has been more striking this year as the combined usage of these geographies and classes have overtaken top cities and higher socio-economic classes in numbers.

The report further states that Internet usage has gone up from 9.3 hrs/week to 15.7 hrs/week i.e. a steep 70 per cent rise.

The reason can be attributed to innovative content delivery, better applications and its increased use for entertainment purposes, which comprises downloading music or videos, socializing through social networking sites and expressing one’s own opinions and views through micro-blogging and user-generated content sites.

Youth continues to drive the surge in Internet use and form major portion of the total users. Among youths, the Internet is primarily being used for searching general information and for entertainment.

“While we are happy to note while people in the smaller towns are taking to Internet seriously, for a deeper engagement we need to provide them the best innovations in the language of their choice, at an access cost that does not pinch and through a device that they have. Only then this engagement is going to be sustainable,” said Subho Ray, president, IAMAI.