Net user base to grow to 23 million by 2003
The Hindustan Times, (Anand Adhikari), July 25, 2000

Indian Males outnumbered females in accessing the Internet at 77 per cent compared to 23 per cent. Internet access is most widespread amongst the 18-24 year age group followed by 28 per cent in the 25-39 year age group, while a significant development is that almost 11 per cent of people over the age of 40 now access the Internet.

These findings are part of the Internet survey conducted by the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM), which released its projections of Internet usage in India here today. "The capital cities (New Delhi and state capitals) accounts for 77 per cent of Internet connections across the country," says the survey report.

The survey revealed that these users are on an average are estimated to be accessing the Internet for 6 hours a week. The Internet penetration in India has grown from a mere base of 1.70 lakh subscriber in November 1998 to more than 1 million subscribers on June 30, 2000.

The survey, conducted in 68 cities and towns in June - July 2000 constituting 92 per cent of the total Internet users in India, revealed that the profile of Internet users in India is currently dominated by the professional/corporate segment.

This accounts for approximately 43 per cent of Internet usage, the student community that contribute close to 38 per cent of Internet surfers and finally the emerging housewives segment that accounts for 4 per cent. "Over half (59.2 per cent) use the Internet as an information resource, 11.3 per cent use it as an educational tool and just under 8.2 per cent use it for entertainment," says the survey.

When asked what are the most frequently used service online was, 73.4 per cent answered e-mail, 77 per cent answered search engines and 23 per cent said they use it for downloading/uploading software.

Commenting on the survey findings, Mr. Dewang Mehta, president of NASSCOM said, "With improvements in bandwidth and penetration of Internet through PCs as well as cable TV, the Internet user base in India is likely to grow to 23 million users by December 31, 2003."

The NASSCOM survey is the first Internet survey in India, which also provides detailed demographics of Internet users in India.

According to NASSCOM's survey,36 per cent of the world's population accesses the Internet today and India with 3.7 million users accounts for a mere 0.37 per cent.

The Internet and e-commerce industry employs approximately 82,000 people. These include web developers, web designers, system analysts, ISP infrastructure providers, marketing staff, e-software professionals etc. It is projected that by March 2003, the Internet and e-commerce industry would employ 5,00,000 people.