Between the villages without any 4G network coverage whatsoever and the large cities where high speeds are taken for granted, lie the oft-ignored smaller urban settlements struggling with weak connectivity. These towns do have 4G network towers, but telecom users […] struggle to get usable internet, typically because there aren’t enough towers, and those that are installed are overloaded with traffic from a high number of users.
Such towns, which lose out in the digital divide in a less documented way, may start getting more attention, now that the definition of “broadband”, which 4G networks are typically classified under in India, has been upgraded from 512Kbps to a minimum of 2Mbps. According to data published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) from September 2022, the three main telecom providers classify the majority of their subscriber base — almost 95% — as “broadband” customers, which now means that they should be able to access internet speeds of at least 2Mbps.