India's urban children spend 4hrs on mobile Internet every day

Children in urban India within the age group of nine to seventeen spend about 4 hours a day on internet mostly through mobile phones, a survey today said. According to the survey by Webwise released by telecom operator Telenor, 134 million Indian children is estimated to come online by 2017. “The mobile phone is the preferred access device of children and 62.4 per cent of them are spending up to 4 hours a day on the internet,” Telenor India CEO Sharad Mehrotra said while releasing findings of the Webwise survey. “Webwise survey was conducted in 2015 with a sample size of 3,200 children across 10 cities in eight states. The survey indicated that 95 per cent children in the age group of 9 to 17 are accessing the internet from a range of devices today,” He added. He was speaking on the occasion of launching ‘WebWise - A Parental Guide’ at Safe Internet Forum. At the Forum, Telenor announced initiatives to make Internet safe for the Indian children. “Protecting and providing a safe internet experience for children through education and guidance is a focus for Telenor. While we extend the benefits of being connected and empower our customers with affordable services, we also encourage responsible use of Internet,” Mehrotra said. The company also announced partnership with NGO Child Helpline. “The Telenor group globally adheres to strict guidelines towards safety of our customers online. In line with that we follow stringent norms with respect to internet safety and security across all countries,” Telenor Group’s Director Sustainability and Head of Social Responsibility Ola Jo Tandre said. PTI