India had 625.42 million wireless and wireline broadband connections at the end of September 2019, an increase of 5% over a three-month period, according to data published by the telecom regulator TRAI. Narrowband connections declined by 12% this quarter from 70.7 million connections as of June 2019. There are still 62.2 million narrowband connections in the country. TRAI defines internet connections with download speeds less than 512 kbps as narrowband, while connections with download speeds more than 512 kbps are broadband. It’s worth noting that the TRAI had recommended redefining the minimum broadband speed to 2 Mbps. The total of 687.6 million Internet connections including both wireline (broadband: 19.01 million; narrowband: 3.25 million) and wireless connections (broadband: 606.4 million; narrowband: 58.96 million). A majority of these internet connections are on mobile. Between July and September 2019, total broadband connections increased by 7% in rural areas and by 4.3% in urban areas. Broadband connections form a majority 91% share, while narrowband connections form the remaining 9% connections. Some observations [caption id="attachment_208847" align="aligncenter" width="598"] All figures in millions[/caption] Delhi had the highest number of broadband connections in an urban area with 35.18 million, followed by Maharashtra with 32.82 million, and Tamil Nadu with 32.44 million connections. Bihar had the highest number of broadband connections in a rural area with 21.68 million, followed by Uttar Pradesh (East) with 20.14 million connections, and Maharashtra with 19.65 million connections. Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai) had the highest number of broadband connections in the country with 52.47 million…
