India had 747.4 million wireless and wireline broadband connections at the end of December 2020, an increase of 3% over a three-month period, according to data published by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India. Narrowband connections declined by 5% this quarter from 50.1 million connections reported in September 2020. There are still 47.8 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 795.2 million Internet connections including both wired (broadband: 22.29 million; narrowband: 3.24 million) and wireless connections (broadband: 725.12 million; narrowband: 44.53 million). A majority of these internet connections are on mobile.
Between October and December 2020, total broadband connections increased by 2.8% in rural areas and by 3% in urban areas. Broadband connections form a majority 94% share, while narrowband connections form the remaining 6% of connections.
Some observations
1. Delhi had the highest number of broadband connections in an urban area with 39.64 million, followed by Maharashtra with 39.21 million, and Tamil Nadu with 38.06 million connections.
2. Bihar had the highest number of broadband connections in a rural area with 30.10 million, followed by Uttar Pradesh (East) with 28 million connections, and Maharashtra with 26.11 million connections.
3. Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai) had the highest number of broadband connections in the country with 65.32 million connections. Andhra Pradesh is in the second spot with 59.25 million connections, followed by UP (East) with 53.84 million connections.
4. Broadband connections in hilly states such as Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and the north-east including Assam are still very low with a total of just 36.6 million connections.
5. Maharashtra added the highest number of broadband connections in rural areas with 1.2 million connections between October and December 2020. In urban areas, Maharashtra topped the list again by adding 1.4 million connections during the same time period.
6. Overall, Maharashtra added the most connections during the three-month period with 2.6 million connections.
