Fiberisation – the roll-out of optical fibre networks – is key to the efficient provision of broadband connectivity at scale. The structural demand for fibre is driven by the conjunction of several trends.  These include FTTx – fibre to the home, office, factory, business, etc.; the need to connect data centres and hyperscalers, driven by artificial intelligence (AI) penetration; and the need to roll out 5G and create 6G-ready infrastructure to extend the mobile footprint. Fibre is needed to link towers and improve backhaul and last-mile connectivity. The arrival of satellite broadband will create further demand for 5G and backhaul.

In India, the intersection of these trends is pronounced, and there is massive demand. The combination of a large data-hungry population, a supportive policy environment, power availability and tax holidays is accelerating the fibre build-out.

The policy focus is on enabling the digital provision of all possible services under the Digital India programme. MeghRaj already enables 2,170 ministries and departments to host applications on secure, scalable government cloud platforms. Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI) platforms such as Aadhaar, the Unified Payments Interface and DigiLocker are translating internet access into positive outcomes.

India’s cloud and data centre capacity is also expanding rapidly to support digital governance and emerging technologies such as AI. Data centre capacity is projected to multiply five times by 2030. The National Supercomputing Mission deploys supercomputers across institutions and aims to build advanced computing infrastructure, enabling universities, start-ups, researchers and industry to access resources for AI, climate modelling, biotechnology, advanced manufacturing, etc. This creates additional demand for optical fibre cables (OFCs).

India has over 1 billion broadband subscribers and a very high per capita data consumption. Broadband subscribers increased from 61 million in March 2014 to over 1 billion in November 2025. The average fixed broadband speed stands at 61.55 Mbps, according to Minister of Communications Jyotiraditya Scindia.

Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel have been rolling out FTTx networks, connecting homes, schools and corporate centres. Vodafone Idea (Vi) has also recently started rolling out 5G. Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has a mandate to connect every Indian village with fibre, and it also offers FTTx.

Globally, FTTx deployment is accelerating, rising from 151 million fibre km in 2025 to 170 million fibre km by 2030. Globally, data centre capacity expansion investments are set to hit $762 billion. 5G is also scaling, with 6.4 billion subscriptions expected by 2030 globally.

India’s growth rates are far outpacing global averages. Indian data centres will see installed capacity grow from an aggregated 1.4 GW in 2025 to 8 GW by 2030. Global multinational corporations such as Google, Meta and Microsoft are deploying billions of dollars in India alongside local players such as Bharti, Tata Consultancy Services, Reliance and Adani.

Airtel and Jio have rolled out 5G networks covering most regions, while Vi and BSNL are rolling out 5G networks and 4G/FTTx respectively.  The home broadband segment includes fibre-to-the-home (FTTH), unlicensed band radio and 5G fixed wireless access (FWA). In the FWA broadband segment, Jio leads with 13.99 million subscribers, followed by Bharti Airtel at 10.38 million and BSNL at 4.47 million. Many regional operators such as Excitel and Gujarat Telelink Private Limited (GTPL) are also offering FTTH. Thus, legacy cable broadband usage is dwindling, with fibre and FWA replacing it.

The installed OFC length in India has increased from 1.94 million route km (rkm) in 2019 to 4.236 million rkm as of December 2025.  Among gram panchayats, 214,843 now have broadband connectivity. India’s average monthly data consumption per wireless data subscriber is among the highest in the world, increasing from 61.66 MB in March 2014 to over 25.7 GB in 2025. Median mobile broadband download speeds have also risen from 10.71 Mbps in 2019 to 131.47 Mbps as of October 2025.

Every dollar invested in data centre capex is a direct multiplier of demand for fibre. OFC demand is projected to grow at a CAGR of 11 per cent through 2030. Sterlite Technologies, a leading fibre optic and digital technology company, has seen order inflows more than doubling in FY 2026, rising to Rs 76. 9 billion, up 109 per cent year on year compared to Rs 36.7 billion in FY 2025.

One of the key elements of the enabling policy is the provision of quick national right of way (RoW) to facilitate faster roll-outs. The Telecommunications RoW Rules, 2024 (effective from January 1, 2025), under the Telecommunications Act, 2023, were designed to support this. The National Broadband Mission (NBM) 2.0, which was launched on January 17, 2025 (effective April 1, 2025), sets clear targets for 2030.

BharatNet, which is perhaps the world’s largest government-led connectivity programme, is designed to transform rural India by laying out the basic infrastructure to bridge the digital divide. The mandate is to provide connectivity by laying OFC across gram panchayats.

Under BharatNet Phases I and II, implemented at a current cost of about Rs 420 billion, over 214,000 of the targeted 265,000 gram panchayats have been connected. By October 2025, 694,711 km of OFC had been laid, and 209,809 panchayats were declared service-ready on OFC. Another 5,034 panchayats were connected over satellite, taking broadband connectivity coverage to a total of 214,843 panchayats.

BharatNet Phase I was completed in December 2017, covering more than 100,000 gram panchayats, and the remaining are being connected under various models, such as state-led, central public sector undertaking-led and private sector-led models. Phase II aims to extend broadband connectivity to 265,000 gram panchayats and to villages beyond panchayats on a demand basis, with a projected outlay of Rs 1.39 trillion. Assets created under BharatNet are considered national assets owned by Digital Bharat Nidhi under the Department of Telecommunications (DoT), and are to be made accessible on a non-discriminatory basis to all service providers.

NBM 2.0 sets multiple targets for 2030, including:

  • OFC connectivity for 270,000 villages with 95 per cent uptime by 2030.
  • Broadband connectivity to anchor institutions such as schools, anganwadis and panchayat offices has reached 68.8 per cent, with a target of 90 per cent by 2030.
  • The national average fixed broadband download speed, which currently stands at 61.55 Mbps, is to be accelerated to 100 Mbps by 2030.
  • Clearances for RoW applications have been reduced from an average of 455 days to 30.4 days. For ease of doing business, NBM 2.0 will further reduce RoW disposal times.
  • Fibre mapping of networks owned by government PSUs has reached 94 per cent, with a target of 100 per cent by March 2027.
  • Rural internet subscribers per 100 population stands at 47.16, with a target of 60 by 2030.
  • Use of sustainable renewable energy in mobile towers is currently at 12.38 per cent, with a target of 30 per cent usage by 2030.
  • NBM 2.0 aims to promote collaboration between stakeholders such as central ministries and departments, states, union territories and municipalities to ensure effective implementation of the Telecommunications RoW Rules, 2024.

India’s connectivity story is compelling in terms of the sheer scale. Total telephone connections (wireline plus wireless) grew from 933 million in March 2014 to 1,228.94 million in September 2025, and mobile connections stood at 1,182.32 million as of September 2025.

Overall, teledensity in India was 75.23 per cent in March 2014 and rose to 86.65 per cent in September 2025. Urban telephone connections also rose from 555.23 million to 689.11 million in the same period. Further, rural connections increased from 377.78 million in March 2014 to 539.83 million in September 2025.

There is still a sharp rural-urban divide, with urban teledensity exceeding 100 per cent in large cities, while rural teledensity remains significantly lower. Internet connections crossed the 1 billion mark, reaching 1.003 billion in June 2025. Broadband connections stood at 996 million as of September 2025.

Median mobile broadband download speed witnessed a substantial increase, from 10.71 Mbps in 2019 to 131.47 Mbps in October 2025. The median fixed broadband download speed increased from 29.25 Mbps in 2019 to 60.34 Mbps in October 2025. Data costs in India have fallen sharply, from Rs 269 per GB in 2014 to Rs 8-Rs 10 per GB in 2025-26. As a result, per capita data consumption has risen to 25.7 GB, which is considerably higher than the average monthly mobile broadband traffic of 17.9 GB per subscriber in high-income countries.

Players in the ecosystem are seeing robust order pipelines and strong revenue visibility. GTPL Hathway Limited is India’s largest digital cable TV service provider and a leading broadband service provider. GTPL reported that its FTTH broadband ARPU stood at Rs 465 per month per subscriber in the fourth quarter of FY 2026, with average data consumption per user per month at 436 GB.

Further, under the Prime Minister Wi-Fi Access Network Interface initiative, 409,111 public Wi-Fi hotspots have been deployed as of February 2026. These are supported by 207 public data office aggregators and app providers to enable affordable, high speed internet, especially in rural and remote regions.

A centralised RoW portal with single-window approval has made an appreciable difference. The Telecom eServices portal is digital by design. Around 25 per cent of applications are approved within 15 days and the average approval time is 30-31 days. This has noticeably sped up roll-outs. In particular, the Telecommunications RoW Rules, 2024 facilitate the effective use of public land and buildings, encourage infrastructure sharing between telecom providers, and provide a dispute resolution mechanism, allowing telecom companies to resolve conflicts with local authorities or landowners quickly.

The PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan platform maps infrastructure for PSUs, public Wi-Fi roll-outs and planned mobile towers. It also lays out protocols for disaster management, national emergencies and security concerns.

In the event of disasters, DoT coordinates closely with licensed service area operators, telecom service providers (TSPs), and central and state agencies to ensure the rapid restoration of telecom networks and effective communication support for emergency services and citizens. Recent response and recovery efforts included telecom recovery after floods and landslides in Himachal Pradesh (August 2025), Jammu & Kashmir (August 2025) and Uttarakhand (August 2025), and after Cyclone Ditwah (November 2025). Emergency fibre replacement is carried out with the help of defence forces, if required.

The strategic preparedness and resilience of security measures were demonstrated during Operation Sindoor, with DoT issuing comprehensive directives that emphasised safeguarding networks in border and sensitive districts through adequate fuel stocking, crew mobility facilitation, infrastructure protection and intra-circle roaming readiness.

DoT has also released the Action Plan for Infrastructure Hardening and Cyber-Resilience, outlining measures such as GIS-based risk mapping of telecom assets, enhanced power redundancy, deployment of quick response teams, VSAT readiness and cell-on-wheels systems, and round-the-clock security operations centre monitoring.

All TSPs were mandated to establish national-level control centres for real-time network monitoring and coordinated national responses. The Submarine Cable Resilience Programme was implemented, under which all submarine cable operators submitted detailed plans, ensuring network redundancy, diverse routes and readiness of repair ships.

While the development of infrastructure has been impressive, it is uneven, and there are plenty of gaps in the market. Opportunities exist at many points in the value chain. Household fixed broadband penetration is 15 per cent, and this is low for an economy as large and diverse as India. The gap is due to the lack of last-mile infrastructure, particularly in rural and remote areas.

Where wireline broadband networks are available, FTTH is dominant, though FWA is also popular. Fibre availability, in better-off urban areas, has been driven by licensing rules that opened up wholesale access to incumbent (BSNL and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited) networks, while Jio and Airtel have leveraged local cable operators to install and maintain local fibre networks. Legacy cable operators (multi-system operators) such as GTPL have also shifted to FTTH provision for broadband and pay-TV.

Regional fibre operators are also doing well, with Excitel winning four wireline awards in Andhra Pradesh, Delhi and Karnataka, and recording consistent quality scores over 70 per cent and download speeds over 88 Mbps. Combined cable and fibre player, GTPL has won four wireline awards in Gujarat.

Another gap is the spotty broadband access across schools. About 40 per cent of government schools – around 419,000 across the country – still lack internet access, and so do another 118,000 private schools, according to the Ministry of Education data.

RailTel Corporation of India is also active in this space, delivering broadband, data centre and ICT solutions to governments and enterprises. RailTel’s extensive telecom network, laid along railway tracks, gives it a strategic advantage in delivering connectivity solutions in remote and rural regions, including challenging terrain in the Northeast. It recently won a Rs 123 million work order from the Tripura government to strengthen digital infrastructure in government schools. The company will be responsible not only for deploying the infrastructure but also for its maintenance.

The combination of last-mile connectivity, digital literacy programmes, digital payments and affordable internet, while linking citizens to markets, strengthens the economy. The payoffs from high AI penetration are incalculable.

Realising these positive outcomes and ensuring that the benefits reach everyone depends on creating and implementing policy that enables the fast, efficient and sustainable roll-out of fibre networks. So far, the policy framework has been enabling. Given India’s scale, the network still requires substantial expansion and upgradation, and significant opportunities still exist in completing fibre roll-outs and addressing the gaps.

Devangshu Datta