TRAI Suggests Internet Subsidy For Rural Areas, Asks Govt To Fix 2Mbps As Minimum Broadband Speed

Trai has suggested increasing internet speed due to increasing internet usage due to corona. TRAI has also recommended internet subsidies of up to Rs 200 in rural areas.

New Delhi: To promote internet connectivity in the country, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has recommended subsidising the internet for the poor. TRAI has asked the government to provide a subsidy of Rs 200 per person for broadband internet connections in rural areas. This amount can be given to the poor through direct benefit transfer.

According to TRAI, internet speed should increase for online studies, business activities, and work from home assignments during corona period. This requires increasing internet speed from a minimum of 512 KBPS to 2 MBPS. TRAI says the cost of broadband service providers will have to be reduced to increase speed. In such a case, there will be a need to reduce the license fee. 

'Process of auction should be accelerated'

TRAI in its recommendation said that the government should expedite the auction of the available mid-band spectrum from 3300 MHz to 3600 MHz. In order to further increase the speed of mobile broadband, allocation of spectrum in mm-wave range for IMT-2020 purposes should be expedited.  

TRAI has advised the government of three categories of broadband service, including increasing minimum speed to 2 MBPS, fast service of download speed of 50 to 300 MBPS, and super fast service of more than 300 MBPS. A user uses 13,462 MB data a month. At present, the minimum download speed of 512 KBPS is considered a broadband connection.