India's ICT usage lags behind Sri Lanka, Bhutan

India's ICT (information and communications technology) usage and access on a global scale has been ranked at 129 out of 166 countries while both Bhutan and Sri Lanka ranked ahead of India at 123 and 116 respectively, telecom regulator TRAI said on Friday.

Further, as per the regulator, with a global rank of 125 for fixed broadband penetration, India has scored below Bhutan and Sri Lanka with only 1.2 per 100 citizens having access to fixed broadband

"India is categorised in the least connected countries group of 42 nations that fall within the low IDI (ICT Development Index) group."

The score of India, however, is better when it came to the wireless broadband segment.

"In the wireless broadband space... India is ranked 113 with a penetration of 3.2 per 100 inhabitants," the regulator said.

It said unavailability of adequate bandwidth, red-tapism in implementation of the National Optical Fibre Network project, issues with civic authorities and Right of Way charges among others as de-accelerating ICT adoption in India.

It also highlighted the prices of ICT-enabling devices like computers, laptops and tabs as a deterrent.

The telecom regulator proposed to hasten the various licence-clearance processes and revamp the national telecom regulatory structure besides managing the spectrum adequately to better adopt broadband in India.

It also recommended cable operators to be allowed to function as resellers of ISP (Internet Service Protocol) licence holders to spread internet usage.