(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?
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
<pre>
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 13.0 126
United Kingdom 37.4 9 98.7 18
USA 30.4 23 97.9 19
Venezuela 7.8 89 43.9 73
</pre>
Annexure-II
Average broadband speed in India in comparison to other countries
<pre>
Country Average Broadband speed (Mbps)
Australia 7.8
China 3.7
Colombia 4.2
France 8.2
Germany 11.5
India 2.5
Japan 15.0
Malaysia 4.9
Russia 10.2
South Africa 3.7
South Korea 20.5
Sri Lanka 5.1
United Kingdom 11.0
USA 12.6
Venezuela 1.2
</pre>
***************