38 pc internet users clock 8.2 hrs per week on the net

Bangalore, Oct 17 (UNI) Nearly 38 per cent of all internet users in the country are 'heavy users' and on an average spend about 8.2 hours per week on the internet, according to the I-Cube 2006 report by the Internet And Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International.

The report also revealed that the percentage of heavy internet users in the country was rapidly increasing -- from 16 per cent in 2001 and 20 per cent in 2004. Similarly, the percentage of light internet users had steadily declined from 63 per cent in 2001 to 28 per cent this year, IAMAI said in a release here.

The study said school going kids spend an average of 322.3 minutes a week on the internet and college going students spend an average of 433.2 minutes a week. While older men spend an average of 580.5 minutes a week, working women spend 535.3 minutes and non-working women 334.5 minutes a week.

Explaining this interesting trend, IAMAI President Dr Subho Ray said ''the study has confirmed what we have guessed for sometime: among some sections of media consumers, time spent on internet is longer than any other media. This is food for thought for advertisers and media buyers.'' The study also established that the average time spent on the internet in terms of minutes per week increased with the increasing age of the user. The active internet users exhibit a marked increase in internet usage as they graduate from school to college, and then onto their professional lives.

I-Cube 2006 covered around 65,000 individuals from 16,500 households in 26 cities, with additional coverage of 10,000 businesses and 250 cyber cafe owners.

UNI VK GD TS1650