(a) whether the Government has taken note of the fact that average 4G speed in the country is among the slowest in world and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor;
(b) the average 4G speed in other countries, country-wise;
(c) the measures taken/being taken by the Government to increase the average 4G speed across the country; and
(d) the time by which it is likely to be done?
THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS &
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS
(SHRI MANOJ SINHA)
(a) & (b) As per Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) My Speed portal, the Telecom Service Provider-wise average download speed on 4G Network in the country for the month of February 2018 is as per Annexure. This TRAI result is based on the data speed samples collected on a crowd sourcing basis during speed test initiated by users over the last four months.
No authentic information is available to the Government on the average 4G speeds in other countries,
(c) & (d) In order to facilitate improvement in Quality of Services and expansion of telecommunication services including 4G-services, the Department of Telecommunications has initiated a series of policy initiatives and development programs:
(i) making available sufficient spectrum for mobile services including auction of 965 MHz across different bands 700, 800, 900, 1800, 2100, 2300 and 2500 MHz bands in 2016.
(ii) allowing Spectrum Sharing, Trading and liberalisation of administratively allocated spectrum as per guidelines.
(iii) permitting sharing of active as well as passive infrastructure by the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) for achieving higher utilisation efficiency.
(iv) permitting Internet Protocol (IP) based interconnections between TSPs in addition to the prevailing arrangements.
(v) notification of Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules, 2016 in November 2016 for regulating underground infrastructure (optical fibre) and over-ground infrastructure (mobile towers).
(vi) periodic review of expansion of mobile networks and related improvements carried out by TSPs.
About 5.15 lakh 4G-BTS have been installed in the country during the period July 2016 to February 2018, leading to a total installed base of around 7.52 lakh 4G-BTS in the country.
Network upgradation and improvement is an ongoing process for each TSP, based on changing traffic volumes, customer needs and market competition.