Active-mobile Internet users touch 2 mn: study

The country has about 2 million Internet users who access the web through their mobile phones and other mobile devices on an active basis, a study has said.

According to a joint study by the IAMAI-IMRB, there are about 2 million users accessing the Internet through their mobile phones and other mobile devices on an active basis--those who access the Internet through their mobile devices at least once a month.

The study says about 27 per cent or close to 127 million mobile users have Internet-ready mobile devices. But out of these, only 9.4 per cent or 12 million users have accessed the Internet from their mobile phones at least once in last one year, it said, adding this further comes down to 2 million or 17 per cent when it comes to active-users.

The report highlights that nearly 70 per cent of these users fall into the age group of 18-35 years, which incidentally constitutes the major chunk of active Internet user base in the country.

About 60 per cent users are estimated to be accessing the Internet through mobile devices for activities like chatting, accessing the social networking sites and mobile blogging, followed by information search (23 per cent of the total active users).

The Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) is an industry body working for the online and mobile value-added services sectors.