The lethargic Indian Telecom Regulator, TRAI has finally started collecting data from operators on the status of mobile / wireless broadband. At the end of 2013, India has total 55.2 Mn Broadband ( > 512Kbps speed) subscribers (~5% of the population) of which a whopping 40.27 Mn Subscribers are using it either on SmartPhones or through USB Dongles. Mobile Broadband Subscribers are 2.8x times more than Wired (Cable / DSL / OFC ) broadband subscribers whose numbers remain at a pathetic 14.54 Mn. In the wired segment, we like the progress Beam Telecom is making with its strategy of wiring the entire townships being developed in Tier-I cities with super-fast blazing speed broadband. BSNL DataOne DSL Broadband leads the pack with 9.9 Mn subscribers followed by Airtel with mere 1.39 Mn subscribers. Right of Way is the Biggest Hurdle for private operators to expand Wired Broadband network.
Mobile Broadband Subscribers – 3G, 4G-LTE and CDMA-EVDO
Airtel leads the list of Mobile Broadband Subscribers with 9.49 Mn subscribers mostly 3G, followed by Reliance Communications 6.86 Mn (most of them on Reliance NetConnect Dongle CDMA-EVDO), BSNL 6.55 Mn, Idea 5.86 Mn pure 3G and Vodafone at the bottom of the stack with 5.2 Mn 3G broadband subscribers. MTS Mblaze numbers reported or not is a mystery as TRAI thinks this data is sacred 🙂
NTP 2011 Broadband Target
The Corrupt Congress Led UPA Government in its National Telecom Policy of 2011, has set a target of 175 Mn by the end of 2017 and a whopping 600 Mn by the end of 2020 which can be achieved provided other bottlenecks for providing the Telecommunications infrastructure falls in place as we move ahead. What say ?