3.3 million active internet users in rural India

Rural India has 3.3 million active internet users, a new report by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) states. Since rural India was mapped for the first time, the year-on-year growth of internet users in rural India could not be estimated.

The research — part of the ongoing I-Cube 2008 being jointly undertaken by IMRB International and IAMAI— also notes there are 5.5 million people who claim to have used internet at some point. The research also noted that due to various government and private sector initiatives to connect rural India, especially the government-led National e-Governance Programme, it was important to bring rural India under the survey.

Subho Ray, IAMAI president, said: “Given the various government and private sector efforts to connect rural Indians, this was the right time to take the survey to rural India and find out the state of affairs there. In fact, penetration of internet in rural India is directly related to the activities of the government and NGOs.”

Mohan Krishnan, senior vice-president BIRD, a specialised unit of IMRB International said “The rural market holds tremendous potential for any media. However, for the internet to flourish in rural India, the applications need to be in vernacular languages, preferably with Text to Speech capabilities. It would be better if visual symbols, graphics and rich media applications are used. The key question is, whether we have the right infrastructure to support these applications.”