New Delhi: Government has said that due to fast adoption of digital technology, it is expected that number of internet users will increase in the country. Minister of Communications Mr Manoj Sinha in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha said that as per information received from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), there were 39.15 cr Internet subscribers as on 31 December 2016.

The National Telecom Policy-2012 envisages 600 million broadband connections by the year 2020 at minimum 2 Mbps download speed. Further, as per National Association of Software & Services Companies (NASSCOM) –Akamai report launched on 17 August 2016 regarding “The Future of Internet in India”, 73 crore internet users are anticipated in the country by 2020.

The government has allocated 965 Megahertz spectrum through auction in October 2016 to various telecom service providers for access services. This will enable the telecom service providers to roll-out 3G and 4G services, which will facilitate proliferation of high speed internet facility.

Further, for provision of broadband facility in rural areas, BharatNet project is also being implemented to provide 100 Mbps broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats (approx. 2.5 lakh) in the country by using an optimal mix of underground fibre, fibre over power lines, radio and satellite media.