Synopsis
While India initially embraced the internet with a degree of ambivalence, there was tremendous enthusiasm among dial-up users and an estimated 60% of internet users were still regularly accessing the internet via the country’s more than 10,000 cybercafes. When it came to high-speed broadband access, however, there was a reluctance to embrace, especially within the corporate sector, and the growth of broadband remained relatively slow. By early 2011 there were just over 13 million broadband subscribers – a lowly penetration (by population) of slightly more than 1%. Wireless broadband technologies were attracting considerable interest in India as operators paid large licence fees on the back of the government’s spectrum auction in mid-2010. Significant network rollouts were underway and there was no doubt that this accelerating the adoption of broadband. This report looks at the stage the development of broadband internet has reached in India.
Key developments:
The broadband market has started to growth, but from a low penetration of 1%; wireless broadband networks are being rolled out across the nation; the operators are testing a variety of wireless-based platforms, the allocation of frequency spectrum has become a sensitive issue as the government attempts to free up blocks held by other ministries; the government continues to promote growth strategies and has prepared a National Broadband Plan; the government has been placing a major emphasis on getting broadband into the rural areas.
Companies covered in this report include:
Aircel/Dishnet, Bharti Airtel, Idea/Spice, Reliance Communications, Tata Teleservices, Vodafone Essar, Bharti Telenet, Reliance Infocomm, Tata Teleservices, Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL), Tata Indicom, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd (BSNL), Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd (MTNL), Augere.
