Broadband Bills Will Come Down To Half For Rural Users If Modi Govt Accepts This TRAI Recommendation

TRAI has also recommended increasing broadband speed by four times to 2 Mbps as more professionals are now working from home and students attending classes online.

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Mumbai: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended enhancing the minimum broadband speed by four times to 2 Mbps, and suggested the government speed up fixed-line broadband rollout in rural areas by reimbursing half of the monthly subscription charges.

The recommendations come as the post-pandemic scenario pushes more professionals to work from home and students to attend classes online.

The TRAI has recommended that the government explore using the direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme to encourage people in rural regions to subscribe to new broadband connections, in addition to offering incentives to broadband providers.

According to TRAI, the government should consider reimbursing half of the monthly broadband charge, up to a maximum of Rs 200 per user, every month. Users will receive the reimbursement straight in their linked bank accounts because it will be in the form of DBT.

"Definition of broadband has been reviewed, and the minimum download speed for broadband connectivity revised upward from the present 512Kbps to 2Mbps. Based on download speed, fixed broadband has been categorized into - Basic, Fast and Super-fast," the TRAI said in a statement.

Until now, the minimum broadband speed was 512 Kbps, after an upgrade from the 256 Kbps and 56 Kbps years ago.

The TRAI advises incentivising investment in fixed-line broadband last-mile linking and an interest subvention programme for capable operators providing wired Internet connections to increase Internet adoption. 

Incentives, such as licence fee exemptions for enterprises offering internet connectivity, were also proposed by the regulator to promote and boost fixed-line connection speed.

India currently has a broadband penetration rate of around 55 per cent, whereas China has a rate of 95 per cent, and European countries have a rate of 95 to 115 per cent. India has a fixed broadband penetration rate of 1.69 per 100 people, compared to 44.6 in France, 42.8 in Korea, and 42.7 in Germany.