Mumbai tops in internet usage with 2.6 mn users

Bangalore, Nov 15: Mumbai, with 3.24 million ever users and 2.6 million active users, leads the pack of top eight internet using metros in the country.

Delhi came second with 2.66 million and 1.80 million of ever and active users respectively. This was revealed by the Internet in India (I-Cube) study, jointly undertaken by the Internet And Mobile Association of India (IAMAI) and IMRB International, IAMAI said in a release here today.

The study also found that the difference between ever users and active users was the lowest in Pune with 90 per cent conversion rate, and highest in Delhi with a poor 67 per cent conversion rate.

Interestingly, Kolkata, with 1.34 million ever and 1.05 million active users, was ahead of tech centres such as Bangalore (1.31 and 0.97 million) and Hyderabad (1.29 and 0.95 million). Ahmedabad had the lowest number of users among the top eight metros, the release said.

The top eight metros have 13.12 million of the total 17.36 million ever internet users, while active internet users were 10.21 million out of 13.23 million.

While top metros continue their dominance, there was a clear cut trend of small metros, non-metros and small towns catching up fast.

Among the ever user category, the share of top eight metros had declined from 58 per cent in 2001 to 41 per cent in 2006. The corresponding decline in the active users segment was from 90 per cent in 2001 to 77 per cent in 2006, the study said.

UNI