Trai invites bids for survey projects on broadband adoption

Telecom regulator Trai today invited Expression of Interest (EoI) for engagement of an agency for a five-year project to conduct annual surveys on adoption of broadband in India.

"Telecom regulator intends to engage an agency or institution or consortium of two agencies or institutions to conduct annual survey on adoption of broadband in the country. This project will involve five annual surveys for five years," Trai said.

Capturing systematic, authentic data on adoption and usage pattern of Internet and broadband services in the country would include following parameters like number of fixed Internet users per 100 people, the average number of users per internet connection or subscription and proportion of broadband users having different data download speeds.

The last date for filing in bids is August 8, 2011.

In January 2009, Government of India had launched the Rural Wire line broadband Scheme through the Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF) for providing broadband services in rural and remote areas by leveraging existing rural wire-line exchange infrastructure.

"In the context of increasing importance of broadband in promoting economic development and social benefits, there has been a trend across the countries to gather systematic data on adoption and penetration of broadband services," Trai added.

The present number of broadband subscribers only indicates individual connections without throwing any light on the actual number of users accessing the broadband services and usage pattern of broadband services along with hindrances and barriers to adoption and usage of broadband.

The broadband growth has not only been slow but also biased in favour of urban areas. More than 60% broadband subscribers live in the top ten metros and tier I cities, while more than 75% connections are in top 30 cities.

Just 5% of the broadband connections are in rural areas, which is meagre compared to about 31% of total mobile telephone connections in rural areas, Trai said.

"In view of the present limitations in terms of availability of data on adoption of broadband and barriers in its adoption, there is a need to have better information about broadband demand. This will be helpful in raising awareness about the usefulness of broadband," Trai said.

A time series survey on adoption of broadband in India and potential growth as well as barriers to its adoption would provide crucial data for monitoring progress and any mid-course review, Trai added.