The culture of India is one of the oldest cultures in the world. In modern India, there is remarkable cultural diversity throughout the country. The South, North, and Northeast have their own distinct cultures and almost every state has carved out its own cultural niche. In spite of the diversity, it's bound by a common a thread as one civilization perhaps because of its common history and transfer of age old knowledge in the geographies. Indian culture and religions had great impacts on South East Asia and this is evident in the legacy it left. Indian influences are still very strong in Thai, Malay, Indonesian, Laotian, Khmer, Burmese cultures and many more.

There have been many initiatives by the government to spur the growth of the internet in India. The NTP of 99' allows for no restriction on the number of service providers. They have given the service providers many other opportunities to take advantage of. They had started with a VSNL monopoly and the internet subscriber base grew slowly. Once competition took place among internet service providers there was a surge in growth. There was a growth in more than 200% of the subscriber base. (24)

There have been many kiosks with internet access placed at central locations of towns in India. This has enabled those that can't afford computers or internet at their place of residence the luxury of having access to the internet. This is part of the national E-Governance action plan. They are a main vehicle for delivering e-government services to rural areas. Services like education, health care, agriculture, e-government, and communication.(6)

Recent findings have shown that these kiosks have only touched the more educated and slightly better off areas. They are not reaching the fully disadvantaged areas and women. Many women do not have the independence to use the kiosks services fully. They are also culturally looked at as places for the educated. Many uneducated are weary of using the public terminals because they feel it will be too complex. These kiosks also cost a certain amount and limit the poorer of any given area the ability to use them. Therefore much of the poor are not even notified of their existence. They also locate the kiosks near the higher income households to make it more readily available to them.(6)

Internet Users are more affluent
Internet Users have a higher SEC profile also
Ratio of SEC A:B among Internet Users = 2:1

Net Usage

Purpose
Mostly used for communication (Email, Chat). Information seeking is primary purpose
High Involvement Usage of the medium

Time Spent
Users are online for anywhere between 1/2 hr to 2 hrs

Time of Access
High percentage of users are online during Prime Time TV hours

Point of Access

Multiplicity of access locations on working days
Cyber Cafes are an important access route