Milind Deora, Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology has told the Lok Sabha that the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has accepted the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India?s (TRAI) recommendations pertaining to the speed of broadband internet, as given in the National Broadband Plan.
Moreover, DoT plans to revise its definition of a broadband connection. Effective January 1, 2015, the stipulated download speed for any broadband connection, either wireline or wireless, will be 2 Mbps.
Deora said, ?According to TRAI?s recommendations in the National Broadband Plan submitted on December 8, 2010, a broadband connection is a data connection using any technology that is able to support interactive services, including internet access and support a minimum download speed of 512 Kbps. Also, the upload speed should be half the download speed. This definition of broadband (both wireline and wireless) given in the National Broadband Plan, is effective from 1 January 2011. The stipulated download speed of 2 Mbps will be effective from 1 January 2015.?
Deora also noted that there were nine public sector and 132 private sector companies providing broadband internet services in India. He also reiterated the government?s stance against alleged illegal activities by these service providers and said that there were 34 Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring (TERM) cells established across the country to ensure compliance of licence conditions issued by the government.
According to data released by TRAI, the total number of internet subscribers in India rose by 5.29 per cent in the quarter ended March 2011 to reach 19.67 million. The number of broadband subscribers stands at 11.89 million, which constitutes 60.44 per cent of the overall internet user base.
