Lok Sabha Question No. 1202 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-14
Subject: Minimum Internet Speed
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Arun Sao, P. C. Mohan, Vijay Baghel

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1202 TO BE ANSWERED ON 14 TH  DECEMBER, 2022

## MINIMUM INTERNET SPEED

## †1202. SHRI ARUN SAO: SHRI P.C. MOHAN: SHRI VIJAY BAGHEL:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government has fixed any minimum internet speed for service providers;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) the details of the current average internet speed in the country;
- (d) whether India has one of the slowest mobile internet speed in the world and if so, the details thererof; and
- (e) the details of the steps taken/being taken by the Government for increasing internet speed in the country since 2014 to till date?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

- (a) & (b) Internet Service providers have not been prescribed any minimum internet speed for delivery to their subscribers.
- (c) & (d) Download internet speed experienced by subscribers depends on various factors like, network, end user device, website being accessed, etc.   Certain organisations publish reports regarding global mobile internet speeds. However, such reports have not been validated.
- (e) Salient steps taken to increase the internet speed in the country since 2014 are as follows:
- i. Additional spectrum has been made available for mobile services. Telecom service Providers(TSPs) have started providing 5G services in the country which, interalia, provides internet at higher speeds.
- ii. Sharing  and  Trading  of  the  Spectrum  among  the  Access  Service  Licensees  is permitted with effect from the year 2015.

- iii. Leasing of the Access spectrum by the Telecom Service Providers to Captive NonPublic Networks is permitted with effect from June, 2022.
- iv. Around 605 MHz spectrum in 5 GHz band has been de-licensed for Wi Fi use in the year 2018.
- v. Indian  Telegraph  Right  of  Way  Rules,  2016  have  been  notified  for  regulating underground infrastructure (optical fibre) and over-ground infrastructure (mobile towers);
- vi. Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016 have been amended on 17th August 2022  to  facilitate  faster  and  easier  deployment  of  telecom  infrastructure.  These amendments pave the way for deployment of small cells and telegraph lines on existing street infrastructure and also rationalize the fees and charges paid by the Telecom Licensees for the Right of Way permissions.
- vii. PM GatiShakti Sanchar Portal (Centralized Right of Way Portal) was launched in May  2022.  The  portal  facilitates  online  applications,  processing,  clearance  and dashboard for top level monitoring. All States/ UTs are onboarded on the portal. Portal is also integrated with the portals of Ministry of Railways and Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
- viii. BharatNet project is being implemented in a phased manner to create network to connect Gram Panchayats (GPs)/Villages with high speed internet in the country.
- ix. National Broadband Mission has been launched, inter-alia, to provide infrastructure capable of delivering higher speeds of broadband upto 50 Mbps in a phased manner.
- x. To  enable  faster  roll  out  of  telecom  networks  by  the  Service  Providers,  the following processes have been made on self-declaration basis on the web portal of Department of Telecommunications:
9. (a) Import of Wireless equipment by the Telecom Service Providers.

(b) Obtaining siting clearance for establishing Base Transceiver Station (BTS) towers.

- xi. Necessity  of  obtaining  Wireless  Operating  Licenses  (WOL)  for  Access  Service Providers has been done away with.

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