India’s internet and broadband landscape was marked by significant advancements during 2023. A noteworthy milestone was the nationwide roll-out of 5G services by industry majors Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio. Fibre-to-the-home (FTTH) remained in the spotlight, addressing the persistent demand for high speed connectivity. Public Wi-Fi gained momentum through the Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface (PM-WANI) initiative, facilitating the setting up of public hotspots. As of September 2023, the total internet users in India stood at 510 million with 2,215 billion minutes spent on the internet. Additionally, the government revised the definition of broadband connectivity, specifying a minimum download speed of 2 Mbps, a big leap from the previous benchmark of 512 kbps.

Substantial strides were made under the BharatNet project, enhancing rural connectivity. In fact, the Economic Survey 2022-23 highlighted a remarkable 200 per cent growth in internet penetration in rural areas between 2015 and 2021, outpacing the 158 per cent growth in urban regions. However, a large digital connectivity gap continued to persist in far-flung areas of the country. The government and industry explored satellite communications and other technologies in a bid to bridge this divide.

A look at the key developments in the internet and broadband space during 2023…

5G roll-out and adoption

India carried out the fastest 5G network roll-out in the world, with a total of nearly 400,000 5G base transceiver stations (BTSs) deployed across the country as of November 2023. The two leading operators, Airtel and Jio, expanded their 5G services in all 28 states and eight union territories. The country has 159 million 5G subscribers, amounting to a penetration of around 15 per cent.

Given the large capex investments by telcos during the 2022 spectrum auction, 5G monetisation was a key focus area for these companies during the past year. The launch of fixed wireless access (FWA) was an initial step in this direction. To put it into perspective, India has a home broadband penetration of less than 10 per cent, and FTTH connects only 34 million homes in India. A considerable segment of the population struggles with fibre access. 5G FWA has thus emerged as a popular 5G use case to address the last-mile connectivity issues in both rural and urban India, where access to fibre infrastructure is a challenge.

Budgetary boost to BharatNet

BharatNet is one of the biggest rural telecom projects in the world, with a target of providing last-mile broadband connectivity to 640,000 villages and 250,000 gram panchayats (GPs) across the country. As of December 2023, a total of 208,621 GPs were made service-ready with broadband infrastructure under the project. Of these, 203,718 GPs were made service-ready through optical fibre cable networks. Among states, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of service-ready GPs (45,328), followed by Maharashtra (23,963), Madhya Pradesh (17,850), Gujarat (14,302) and Arunachal Pradesh (12,848). Further, a total of 104,675 GPs were equipped with Wi-Fi hotspots, of which 6,322 were reported as active.

The union cabinet approved an additional outlay of Rs 1.39 trillion (approximately $16 billion) for the BharatNet project, to provide last-mile optical fibre-based connectivity to all villages. Expenditure on the project has already crossed the equivalent of around $8.5 billion.

Expanding FTTH footprint

As of end-2023, a total of 812,999 FTTH connections had been commissioned under the BharatNet project, compared to around 567,000 connections in June 2023. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) initiated a pilot project by Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) in October 2022 to provide FTTH broadband connections to 100,000 rural households. However, in 2023, nearly 200,000 connections were already provided under the scheme due to high demand. DoT plans to expand this project to 500,000 connections. Separately, state-run BSNL provided 3.29 million FTTH connections to customers as of September 30, 2023. The telco also launched a high speed FTTH internet service in remote regions such as Kaza, Himachal Pradesh. However, BSNL, which was once the market leader in the home broadband and wireline segments, is now struggling to retain its market share as both Jio and Airtel are aggressively expanding their FTTH footprints.

Lag in public Wi-Fi deployment

PM-WANI is a government initiative that was launched in December 2020 by DoT to provide affordable and reliable internet access to citizens through public Wi-Fi hotspots. As of December 2023, the government had deployed a total of 181,730 public Wi-Fi hotspots with 193 active PDO aggregators under the PM-WANI scheme across India. The highest number of hotspots (68,799) is in Delhi, followed by Karnataka (20,195) and Maharashtra (16,320). Arunachal Pradesh saw a big leap in the number of hotspots during the second half of the year, from 598 in July 2023 to 1,016 in December 2023.

However, the total figure is significantly short of the target of rolling out 10 million Wi-Fi hotspots by 2022 as outlined in the National Digital Communications Policy, 2018. This could mean the government missing its 50 million public Wi-Fi hotspots target by 2030, set out in the latest Bharat 6G Vision document.

A few state bodies initiated the deployment of public Wi-Fi facilities during the past year. For instance, Bhuba­neswar Smart City Limited expanded its free Wi-Fi service to 500 locations across Bhuba­n­eswar, Odisha. The Karnataka government plans to provide public Wi-Fi hotspots in at least 5,000 locations, of which 3,000 hotspots have already been identified.

Leveraging satellites

Satellite-based internet garnered high interest from the government as well as private players. Bharat Broadband Network Limited and BSNL employed the Indian Space Research Organisation’s high-throughput satellites under the BharatNet project to provide connectivity to about 6,700 GPs/areas that were previously inaccessible through traditional mediums. Under the BharatNet project, a total of 4,903 had been connected over satellite media as of December 2023. Among states, Manipur led with 1,154 service-ready GPs over satellite, followed by Arunachal Pradesh (994), and Jammu & Kashmir (686). Furthermore, the government introduced reforms to improve ease of doing business in the satcom domain by limiting the multiplicity of charges at different stages of rolling out the services. Jio Satellite Communications and Bharti Enterprises-owned OneWeb secured authorisation from the government to provide pan-India broadband services to end-consumers via satellite. Jio also introduced the country’s first satellite-based giga fibre service to provide high speed broadband services in hard-to-reach areas.

Ensuring last-mile connectivity

A key priority for the government and industry during the year was to ensure last-mile connectivity and narrow down India’s digital divide. For instance, the Kerala government launched the Kerala Fibre Optic Network project, which seeks to provide free internet connectivity to the economically weaker sections of the state. The Government Andhra Pradesh launched 4G services in 209 remote villages. Additionally, Airtel and Alphabet Inc. collaborated to deliver the new laser-based high speed internet technology in remote villages of the country. Jio expanded its 4G services to various remote locations, including Kuti village at an altitude of 12,300 feet in Uttarakhand’s Vyas valley bordering China.

Inception of 6G

The government released the Bharat 6G Vision document with the aim to launch 6G services by 2030. It has appointed an apex council to focus on issues such as standardisation, identification of the spectrum, creating an ecosystem for devices and systems, and planning funds for research and development. Additionally, a collaborative platform called the Bharat 6G Alliance has been established to forge coalitions and synergies with other 6G global alliances and foster knowledge exchange. According to government data, India has already acquired over 200 patents related to 6G technology.

Outlook 2024

Internet and broadband coverage will continue to expand across India, mainly driven by rigorous efforts by private and public players and the exponential growth in demand for digital connectivity. A mix of fibre, satcom and Wi-Fi will shape the internet landscape by providing high speed uninterrupted connectivity. For instance, the government plans to use satellite technology and FWA along with fibre to connect rural areas under the revamped BharatNet project with an outlay of Rs 1.4 trillion. This is expected to pave the way for private players such as Jio and OneWeb to collaborate with the government on this front. Furthermore, the government is implementing various schemes including the 4G saturation project to provide 4G mobile services in uncovered villages. With reasonable funding in place, BSNL will also launch its 4G services within the next few months, followed by its 5G network roll-out. The government anticipates every uncovered village to be connected with 4G by 2024, ensuring widespread connectivity.

India will likely push the pedal on subsea cable networks this year. A prime example is the recently inaugurated Kochi-Lakshadweep Islands submarine optical fibre connection to strengthen telecom services in the Lakshadweep Islands. The country will continue to innovate and file patents on 6G technologies as it aims to gain global leadership in the future network generation.

Sarah Khan