Mumbai: According to the Internet in India [I Cube] 2007 published jointly by the Internet and Mobile Association of India and IMRB International, 41 per cent of the internet users in India are from the so called smaller towns and cities, according to a study jointly conducted by the two organisations.

Cities and towns with a population of 2 lakhs to 10 lakhs have shown the fastest rate of growth in internet adoption since 2000.

In stark contrast, the share of top eight metros and mini metros (by population) has fallen from a peak of 77 per cent in 2000 to a modest 38 per cent in 2007, according to the report.

Commenting on the findings of the report, Mohan Krishnan, senior vice president IMRB International and country manger BIRD Group IMRB said, ''''the distribution of internet users among the four classes of cities covered by the I-Cube has been steadily becoming more equitable, a sure sign that internet is being gradually but steadily expanding to the smaller towns and cities''''.

Welcoming the trend, Dr Subho Ray, president, Internet and Mobile Association of India, ''''the town class distribution of internet use in 2007 certainly reflects the aspiration of sections of non-metro population to ''live locally but connect globally''.''''

Better availability of bandwidth, lower cost of computers, increasing computer literacy and awareness of the usefulness of internet as a tool for communicating and commerce are some of the factors that is taking the internet to smaller towns and cities of India.

The cities covered by the survey included Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Patna, Lucknow, Ludhiana, Coimbatore, Guwahati, Surat, Nagpur, Bhopal, Bhubaneshwar, Durg, Vishakhapatnam, Trichy, Bellary, Panipat, Trisshur and Jalgaon covering 65,000 households.

Town Class Definitions:
Top 8 Metros: The top 8 cities in India in terms of population.
Small Metros: Other towns which are not a part of top 8 metros but have more than 1 Million population.
Non Metros : Towns with a population between 0.5 million1 Million Towns.
Small Towns: Urban Centers with a population of less than 0.5 million.