Lok Sabha Question No. 85 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2016-02-24
Subject: Penetration and Speed of Broadband
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
Asked by: SHIVAJI ADHALRAO PATIL, DHARMENDRA YADAV, C. N. JAYADEVAN, RABINDRA KUMAR JENA, Shrirang Appa Barne, ANANDRAO  ADSUL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA

## UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.85 TO BE ANSWERED ON 24 th  FEBRUARY, 2016

## PENETRATION AND SPEED OF BROADBAND

85. SHRI ADHALRAO PATIL SHIVAJIRAO:

SHRI DHARMENDRA YADAV:

SHRI C.N. JAYADEVAN:

SHRI RABINDRA KUMAR JENA:

SHRI SHRIRANG APPA BARNE:

SHRI ANANDRAO ADSUL:

Will  the  Minister  of  COMMUNICATIONS  AND  INFORMATION  TECHNOLOGY be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  broadband  penetration  and  the  speed  of  broadband  is  quite  low  in comparison to the developed countries;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the Union Government proposes to rope in private players to improve broadband penetration in the country under its ambitious Bharat Net programme and to increase the current broadband upto 2mbps; and
- (d) if so, the details thereof along with target set for broadband by 2030?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

- (a) &  (b) As  per  the  Broadband  Commission's  annual  'The  State  of  Broadband Report' released on 21 September 2015, the ranking of India in comparison to other countries  including  the  developed  one  with  respect  to  Fixed  and  Mobile  Broadband penetration for 2014 are at Annexure-I.

As per Akamai's State of the Internet: Q3 2015 Report, the average broadband speed  in  India  in  comparison  to  other  countries  including  the  developed  one  are  at Annexure-II.

- (c) & (d) National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) project  was planned, in 2011,  to connect all  Gram  Panchayats  (approx.  2.5  lakh)  in  the  country  through  Optical  Fibre Cable (OFC) utilizing existing fibres of  Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) viz. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (PGCIL)  and RailTel and laying incremental fiber wherever necessary to bridge the connectivity gap between Gram Panchayats (GPs) and Blocks for providing broadband connectivity. The project  is  being  executed  by  a  Special  Purpose  Vehicle  (SPV),  namely,  Bharat Broadband Network Limited (BBNL), which has been incorporated on 25.02.2012 under Indian Companies Act 1956.  Under this project, at least 100 Mbps bandwidth was to be provided  in  all  the  estimated  2.5  lakh  GPs  for  utilization  by  all  categories  of  service providers on non-discriminatory basis including Internet Service Providers.

Existing broadband  speed  of  512  kbps  was  revised from  256  kbps  on 18.07.2013.  Setting  of  very  high  speed  for  broadband  may  affect  the  affordability  of broadband particularly for rural people, who will be the major consumers of broadband in the coming years. The network required for supporting high speed broadband need to be put in place in most parts of the country before enhancing the speed.  To support high speed broadband network in most parts of the country, particularly in rural areas, NOFN project  is  under  implementation  to  provide  broadband  infrastructure  to  all  the GPs.

Annexure-I

## Ranking  of  India  in  comparison  to  other  countries  with  respect  to  Fixed  and Mobile Broadband penetration for 2014

| Country        |   Fixed Broadband Penetration (per 100 inhabitants) |   Rank |   Mobile Broadband Penetration (per 100 inhabitants) |   Rank |
|----------------|-----------------------------------------------------|--------|------------------------------------------------------|--------|
| Australia      |                                                25.8 |     39 |                                                112.2 |     11 |
| Bhutan         |                                                 3.3 |    109 |                                                 28.2 |    101 |
| Brazil         |                                                11.5 |     76 |                                                 78.1 |     27 |
| China          |                                                14.4 |     67 |                                                 41.8 |     78 |
| Colombia       |                                                10.3 |     79 |                                                 45.1 |     72 |
| France         |                                                40.2 |      6 |                                                 66.2 |     39 |
| Germany        |                                                35.8 |     14 |                                                 63.6 |     41 |
| India          |                                                 1.2 |    131 |                                                  5.5 |    155 |
| Japan          |                                                29.3 |     24 |                                                121.4 |      6 |
| Malaysia       |                                                10.1 |     80 |                                                 58.3 |     52 |
| Myanmar        |                                                 0.3 |    151 |                                                 14.9 |    119 |
| Nepal          |                                                 0.8 |    139 |                                                 17.4 |    115 |
| Pakistan       |                                                 1.1 |    135 |                                                  5.1 |    156 |
| Russia         |                                                17.5 |     56 |                                                 65.9 |     40 |
| South Africa   |                                                 3.2 |    110 |                                                 46.7 |     69 |
| South Korea    |                                                38.8 |      7 |                                                108.6 |     13 |
| Sri Lanka      |                                                 2.6 |    114 |                                                 13   |    126 |
| United Kingdom |                                                37.4 |      9 |                                                 98.7 |     18 |
| USA            |                                                30.4 |     23 |                                                 97.9 |     19 |
| Venezuela      |                                                 7.8 |     89 |                                                 43.9 |     73 |

Contd……..3/-

## Annexure-II

## Average broadband speed in India in comparison to other countries

| Country        |   Average Broadband speed (Mbps) |
|----------------|----------------------------------|
| Australia      |                              7.8 |
| China          |                              3.7 |
| Colombia       |                              4.2 |
| France         |                              8.2 |
| Germany        |                             11.5 |
| India          |                              2.5 |
| Japan          |                             15   |
| Malaysia       |                              4.9 |
| Russia         |                             10.2 |
| South Africa   |                              3.7 |
| South Korea    |                             20.5 |
| Sri Lanka      |                              5.1 |
| United Kingdom |                             11   |
| USA            |                             12.6 |
| Venezuela      |                              1.2 |

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