Broadband Connections Enhancement

According to the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology, there were 10.34 million broadband subscribers in India as on 30 September 2010. Sachin Pilot on 6 December 2010 in response to a question in Lok Sabha mentioned the facts and figures in relation to broadband connectivity in India. In the letter he also highlighted the initiatives taken by the government to increase the penetration of Broadband Connection in India. The measures pointed out by the ministry include the following:

•    Government allotted spectrum for 3G and BWA services to the private operators through auction in order to facilitate proliferation of broadband through mobile handset and wireless technology.
•    The Government proposed to set up 100000 Common Service Centres (CSCs) by DIT by 2010 to provide access of broadband.
•    The Government amended the Indian Telegraph Rules and stream IV was added to bring provisioning of broadband connectivity to the rural areas under the purview of the USOF.
•    USOF schemes were introduced for supporting shared infrastructure for mobile services in rural and remote areas.
•    Rural Wireline Broadband Scheme was started to provide wire-line broadband connectivity to rural & remote areas by leveraging the existing rural exchanges infrastructure and copper wire-line network.

It was also informed that the Government was working on formulation of a National Broadband Plan which would address Broadband connectivity to all the Villages.