Reliance Jio is the leader in the mobile broadband space in India, whereas BSNL is the number one operator in wired broadband segment
Despite a lot of focus by industry as well as government towards enhancing the broadband penetration in India, the year 2018 witnessed the lowest growth for broadband subscribers in the country.
The broadband subscribers recorded a growth of 44.7 per cent in 2018 over the previous year, recording the lowest growth since 2014, as per the latest data by Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).
However, the overall broadband subscribers reached to 525 million, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 43.7 per cent in the last five years. In addition, the broadband wireless subscribers crossed the 500 million mark, whereas the fixed broadband subscribers continue to drop. By end of this year, the fixed broadband subscribers should further drop to 17.6 million, as per the data.
Jio led the growth in 2016
India recorded the addition of highest number of broadband subscribers in 2016, when Reliance Jio Infocomm commercially launched the 4G services in September. In that year, 73 per cent growth was seen in broadband subscribers as compared to the previous year. In 2017, the growth was 54 per cent which is projected to settle at 45 per cent in the current year.
Apart from Reliance Jio, no other operator has focused to enable the ‘broadbandisation’ at the entry level of market.
The industry along with the supply chain has to come out with more such innovative solutions to allow more people to join the digital bandwagon at the entry segments, the report said.
With more than 97 per cent of the broadband subscribers coming from wireless technologies such as 4G, the whole ecosystem has to think of innovative and scalable and sustainable measures for the country to have more than one billion broadband subscribers. However, the onus would be mainly on the government which can make efficient utilisation of resources such as USO Fund, to reach the potential of Indian market, it added.
According to TRAI data, Reliance Jio is the leader in the mobile broadband space in India, whereas BSNL is the number one operator in wired broadband segment, despite competition.
