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India to have 24 million rural Internet users
By siliconindia
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Thursday, 09 June 2011, 23:52 IST
New Delhi: According to a new research study by Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International, the rural India's internet users are growing day by day. In their report titled 'Internet in Rural India', they have mentioned that the total number of active internet users in rural area is projected to rise by 98 percent to touch 24 million by December 2011. In December 2010 the number was 12.1 million.
The study found various reasons for this dramatic growth. One of the main reasons for this growth in user numbers in rural areas is the growing awareness level about internet. According to the research, about 69 percent of the rural population is aware of internet as opposed to 16 percent projected in last year's report.
The second reason for the growth of rural internet users is that access has become easier and only 18 percent have had to access internet from common service centers or cyber cafes located outside the 10 km radius as opposed to 54 percent last year.
The research also highlighted that many people use internet for entertainment and communication. 41 percent of them claimed that they used the Internet for watching, downloading and listening to music or uploading or downloading pictures while 32 percent also used the Internet for email, chat and communication. Moreover Government initiatives facilitated by Department of Information Technology (DIT) such as National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), State Wide Area Network (SWAN) and Common Service Centres (CSC) are increasingly maturing and this also can be the reason for increase of internet users in rural areas.
