India had 324.9 million wireless and wireline broadband connections at the end of September 2017, an increase of 8% over a three month period starting from June 2017, according to data published by telecom regulator TRAI. Note that India there were 104.3 million narrowband connections in the country, a number which has been on the decline, possibly as more people switch to broadband from narrowband. Narrowband connections declined from from 130.35 million connection in June 2017.
The total: 429.3 million Internet connections, including both wireline and wireless connections, and broadband and narrowband. A majority of these Internet connections are on mobile.
Between July and September 2017, total broadband connections in rural India grew by 7%, and by 8.3% in urban areas. TRAI defines Internet connections with download speeds less than 512 kbps as narrowband, while connections with download speeds faster than 512 kbps are classified as broadband. Broadband connections were the majority in India with a 76% share, while narrowband connections comprised the remaining 24% connections.
It’s worth noting that the TRAI had recommended redefining the minimum broadband speed to 2mbps, which is still too less.
Some observations:
1. Delhi had the highest number of broadband connections in urban areas with 22.98 million, followed by Tamil Nadu with 20.22 million connections, and Maharashtra with 9.56 million connections.
2. Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai)had the highest number of broadband connections in rural areas with 8.34 million, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 7.99 million connections, and Uttar Pradesh (East) with 6.69 million connections.
3. Overall, Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai) had the highest number of broadband connections in the country with 27.9 million connections. Tamil Nadu is at the second spot with 26.21 million connections, followed by Andhra Pradesh with 25.1 million connections.
4. Broadband connections in hilly states such as Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and the North East including Assam is still very low with a total of just 16.45 million connections between them.
5. Andhra Pradesh added the highest number of broadband connections in rural areas with 0.79 million connections, between July and September 2017. In urban areas, Karnataka topped the list adding 1.83 million connections during the same time period.
6. Overall, Karnataka added the most connections during the three-month period with 2.14 million connections.
