New broadband definition highlights the plight of India’s barely connected “grey spots”

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.

Read the full article on The Hindu.

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