Central Govt to increase the minimum Internet speed into 4 times

New Delhi, Oct 24: The central government will make a crucial decision on Tuesday to ensure that the use of Internet across the country by increasing minimum internet speed into 4 times.

At present, minimum internet speed is 512 kilobytes per second, and it will be hiked its four times up to 2Mbps.

India tops a list of 23 major internet-using countries as the nation where most people denied having a life without the world wide web.

The government's move is in line with its digital India vision that includes initiatives such as smart cities, digital India programmes, digital payments, and 5G services.

According to the report, Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajan affirmed the government was aware of slow internet speed experienced by internet users in many parts of the country, especially from villages.

"We are very slow. While we have done a lot on (providing internet) access, we have not been able to actually deliver the quality of service that is required," Sundararajan told the paper.

While India is preparing to roll out 5G services and applications focusing on internet-of-things (IoT) — the interconnection via the Internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects to exchange data — internet speeds in 3G and 4G services are nowhere close to the numbers promised.

Earlier, Telecom regulator TRAI had pointed out the weaker internet speed in its 'Consultation Paper on Data Speed Under Wireless Broadband Plans' released in June this year.

On the minimum-internet speed limit of 2 mbps, Sundararajan said, "2 mbps is the basic minimum. We should definitely mandate this. If at all, it should be higher than that. It cannot be lower than that."

TRAI has also been pushing for the increase in the minimum-internet speed as several telecom companies are rolling out faster 4G services.

Even though the use of 4G gained pace after the launch of services by Reliance Industries-owned Jio in September last year, other telecom companies have been averse to the idea of having higher internet speed for various reasons, said the report.