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Trai seeks stakeholder views to raise broadband penetration
NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) today issued a consultation paper on ‘National Broadband Plan‘ to figure out how to increase broadband penetration in the country.
Trai has noted that it is a matter of concern that broadband penetration in India is low in spite of the fact that 104 telecom service providers are providing broadband services. The broadband penetration is just 0.74 per cent when compared with teledensity of 52.74 per cent.
A need is being felt to identify impediments and create an environment to encourage broadband growth.The net broadband addition per month is just 0.1 to 0.2 million in contrast to approximately 18 million mobile connections per month, Trai said.
Availability of broadband services at affordable tariff will provide access to enormous information, facilitate delivery of civic services, increase GDP contributions, generate more employment and enhance productivity.
The Department of Telecom (DoT) had made a reference to Trai seeking its recommendations on the need to review the definition of Broadband connectivity in view of future growth in internet/broadband driven by wireless technologies.
| No of fixed line and Broadband Connection in Metros | |||
| Name of Metro | No. of fixed lines | No. of Broadband connections | Broadband as a Percentage of fixed line connections |
| Delhi | 2,710,835 | 785,564 | 28.97% |
| Mumbai | 2,945,525 | 467,692 | 15.87% |
| Chennai* | 1,420,342 | 366,539 | 25.80% |
| Kolkata* | 1,463,442 | 248,510 | 16.98% |
Though 70 per cent of Indian population lives in rural areas, broadband facility is limited to metro and major cities. Availability of broadband is critical for development of rural areas. Out of total 9 million broadband subscribers at the end of April 2010, just 5 per cent are in rural areas. The low broadband penetration in rural areas is attributed to non availability of transmission media connectivity upto village level.
The situation demands an urgent focus on creation of robust national infrastructure scalable to cater to future requirements not only in urban areas but also upto villages. For making all villages broadband enabled, an option being explored is taking optical fibre to 375,552 villages having population of 500 or more.
Such a network would require laying of about 12 billion kilometres of optical fibre at a cost of about Rs 323 billion.
Funding of such project could be considered from Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for non-skilled work and from Universal Services Obligation Fund (USOF) for material and equipment cost. This optical fibre network would integrate with backbones of various service providers and users would be able to get broadband with a variety of wired and wireless solutions.
Some of the questions raised are: What should be done to increase broadband demand and improve the perceived utility of broadband among the masses; what measures should be taken to enhance the availability of useful applications for broadband; How can broadband be made more consumer friendly especially to those having limited knowledge of English and computer; is the existing telecom infrastructure is inadequate to support broadband demand; the network topology perceived to support high speed broadband using evolving wireless technologies; is there a prominent role for fibre based technologies in access network in providing high speed broadband in next five years; and changes needed in existing licensing and regulatory framework to encourage cable TV operators to upgrade their networks to provide broadband.
Trai has asked stakeholders to send their comments on the consultation paper by 7 July.
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Inshorts Group chief Deepit Purkayastha joins IAB video council for Southeast Asia and India
The co-founder and chief executive of the short-form content platform has been inducted into the IAB SEA+India Video Council, giving India a stronger voice in shaping digital video frameworks
NOIDA: India has long been the world’s most chaotic, multilingual and mobile-first digital market. Now, one of its most prominent short-video executives is getting a seat at the table where the rules are written.
Deepit Purkayastha, co-founder and chief executive of Inshorts Group, has been selected as a member of the IAB SEA+India Video Council for 2026. Run by the Interactive Advertising Bureau, the council brings together senior leaders from Southeast Asia and India to shape standards, best practices and measurement frameworks for the fast-evolving video and digital advertising ecosystem.
The timing is pointed. According to the IAMAI-Kantar Internet in India Report 2025, over 588 million Indians are now consuming short-video content, with growth increasingly driven by rural and non-metro audiences. India’s active internet user base has crossed 950 million, with 57 per cent of users now coming from rural markets. Yet the frameworks that govern how video consumption is measured and monetised were largely designed for single-language, Western markets and have struggled to keep pace with the scale, diversity and complexity of India’s digital landscape.
Purkayastha is no stranger to these debates. He already serves on the AI Council at Marketing and Media Alliance India and as co-chair of the Digital Entertainment Committee at the Internet and Mobile Association of India. His induction into the IAB SEA+India Video Council extends that influence into the global video standards arena.
Inshorts Group sits squarely at the intersection of these forces. Its flagship product, Inshorts, India’s highest-rated short news app, reaches 12 million active users with 60-word news summaries. Its sister platform, Public App, reaches 80 million monthly active users across more than 700 districts and 12 languages, serving communities that most global platforms barely register.
Purkayastha said the opportunity was about building something more representative. “India today sits at the centre of the global video ecosystem, but the frameworks that define how value is created and measured have not always kept pace with the realities of our market,” he said. “Being part of the IAB SEA+India Video Council is an opportunity to contribute to a more representative and future-ready approach, one that accounts for diversity in language, context, and user intent.”
As a council member, Purkayastha will contribute to shaping regional standards across video advertising, measurement and platform governance, with a focus on frameworks that are native to India’s multilingual, mobile-first ecosystem rather than imported from global benchmarks designed elsewhere.
For years, India has been content to play by rules written for other markets. Purkayastha’s induction is a signal that it is done waiting to be consulted and ready to start writing them.
