What’s the news: India has indicated an interesting trend in internet access with the cost of connection and data consumption on the rise despite declining Internet subscriptions in recent months. As per quarterly reports released by the Telecom Regulation Authority of India (TRAI) this decrease in subscribers is particularly prominent in rural areas. The downward descent of internet subscribers started between April and June 2021 when the percentage change declined to 1.02 percent from around three percent in the previous quarter. For broadband connections, the decline began between October and December 2021 when subscribers lessened to 792.09 million from 794.88 million in the previous quarter. Between January and March 2022, there were 788.30 million broadband subscribers. The overall internet subscriber percentage change by this quarter had gone down to –0.53 percent. While both urban and rural population reported decline in subscribers, the rural regions showed a comparatively greater decrease in subscribers. Between July and September 2021, there were 336.60 million rural internet subscribers that reduced to 333.10 million subscribers by the end of the year. Similarly, the first quarter of the year recorded 331.81 million rural internet subscribers, indicating a further decline. Why it matters: Changing trends in TRAI’s quarterly reports can point towards what internet access may look like in the future. Moreover, it is important to consider what government direction such trends will lead to. Data fails to reflect TRAI’s ‘resolve’ to connect every household On September 14, Dr. P D Vaghela, Chairman at TRAI, spoke at the…
