Rural internet users to reach 45 million by December 2012

Rural India is getting fast on the information superhighway. Rural India has 38 million claimed internet users and 31 million active internet users, according to a report on 'Internet in Rural India' by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB.

The penetration of claimed internet users in rural India has grown from 2.6% in 2010 to 4.6% in 2012, a CAGR of 73%. On the other hand, the penetration of active internet users has grown from 2.13 percent in 2010 to 3.7% in 2012.

According to the report, the number of claimed internet users in rural India is expected to reach 45 million by December 2012. This will only get a push as the government's ambitious project to give broadband connectivity to 250,000 villages accelerates. The pilots for this project, being undertaken by Bharat Broadband are currently underway.

Commenting on the report Subho Ray, president of IAMAI stated, "This is just the tip of the iceberg. In the next two years, a combination of affordable smart phones, optic fibre backbone and local language content is likely to beat projections of internet growth in rural areas."

The report further states that mobile phones are fast emerging as an important point of internet access in rural India. As of June 2012, there were 3.6 million mobile internet users in India, a growth of 7.2 times from 0.5 million in 2010.

Community Service Centres (CSC) and cyber cafes are the major point of access for internet users in rural India. 57.7% of the internet users accessed internet through this common user points. A significant 12% of the internet users access internet on their mobile phones.

Entertainment is the primary driver of internet use in rural India. Almost 75% of rural users use internet for entertainment while 56% use it for communications Users like to access music, videos and photos for entertainment.

There is a growing interest amongst the rural constituents seeking information on education. 81% claimed internet users seek information pertaining to school/university and exam centres.