Lok Sabha Question No. 539 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2019-02-06
Subject: 4G Speed
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: KIRIT SOMAIYA

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.539 TO BE ANSWERED ON 6 TH  FEBRUARY, 2019

## 4G SPEED

539.   DR. KIRIT SOMAIYA:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether Government has taken note of the news that 4G speed in India is the slowest in the world;
- (b) whether it is true that average 4G speed is slowest across the countries;
- (c) if so, the details thereof along with comparison with other countries;
- (d) if  so,  whether  the  Government  will  find  out  the  reasons  and  take  appropriate measures to enhance 4G speed to bring it at par with other countries;
- (e) if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) the time by which the internet speed of the country will be made faster?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

(a) to (c) As per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) analytics portal, the Telecom  Service  Provider-wise  average  download  speed  on  4G  Technology  in  the country for the month of December 2018 is as per annexure. This TRAI result is based on  the  data  speed  samples  collected  on  a  crowd  sourcing  basis  during  speed  tests initiated by users over the last six months. No authentic information is available to the Government on the average 4G speeds in other countries.

(d) to (f) The speed of mobile internet is dependent on a number of factors such as the number of users being served and the traffic handled by the cell, closeness to the tower serving the customer, the user equipment/mobile handset used by the customer etc.    As  such,  the  4G  mobile  users  may  experience  different  speeds  at  different locations and time of usage.

In  order  to  facilitate  improvement  in  Quality  of  Services  and  expansion  of telecommunication services including 4G-services, the Department of

Telecommunications  has  initiated a range  of policy initiatives  and  development programs as below :-

- (i) making available sufficient spectrum for mobile services including auction of 965 MHz across different bands  (700,  800,  900,  1800,  2100,  2300  and  2500  MHz bands) in 2016.
- (ii) allowing spectrum sharing, trading and liberalisation of administratively allocated spectrum as per guidelines.
- (iii) permitting  sharing  of  active  as  well  as  passive  infrastructure  by  the  Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) for achieving higher utilisation efficiency.
- (iv) permitting Internet Protocol  (IP)  based  interconnections  between  TSPs  in addition to the prevailing arrangements.
- (v) notification of Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016 in November 2016 for regulating underground infrastructure (optical fibre) and over-ground infrastructure (mobile towers).
- (vi) periodic  review  of  expansion  of  mobile  networks  and  related  improvements carried out by TSPs.

Network upgradation and improvement (including increase in Internet speed) is an ongoing process for each TSP, based on changing traffic volumes, customer needs and market competition.

TELECOM SERVICE PROVIDER -WISE AVERAGE DOWNLOAD SPEED ON 4G TECHNOLOGY FOR THE MONTH OF DECEMBER'2018

| Name of 4G Telecom Service Provider   |   Average Download 4G Speed (in Mbps) |
|---------------------------------------|---------------------------------------|
| M/s. Reliance Jio                     |                                  20.8 |
| M/s. Airtel                           |                                   9.6 |
| M/s. Vodafone                         |                                   6.7 |
| M/s. Idea                             |                                   6.3 |

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