India’s Broadband internet penetration sucks. We’ve been saying this for a while now (1,2,3). On Thursday, Rahul Khullar, the Chairman of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India put it a bit more mildly. He said
We have done a terrible job in broadband. We are nowhere near to meeting target of NOFN and unless it is done, internet penetration cannot happen at the desired pace.
Khullar, who was talking at an industry conference also made a case for “reasonable pricing” of spectrum to take India’s Internet penetration higher. 
Just How Bad is it?
According to data released by the telecom regulator in December, there are only 15.2 million broadband subscribers, in a country of 1.2 billion people. Meanwhile, the number of mobile Internet subscribers has been swelling. In the April- June quarter, there 175.5 mn users accessed the Internet using a mobile device.
It gets worse
- India is Ranked 122nd for Broadband Penetration, according to a United Nations report.
- Broadband in India Grows at Snails Pace: Sample this: Number of broadband subscribers has increased .52% month on month, from 15.28 million at the end of August 2013 to 15.36 million at the end of September 2013.
- High-Speed Broadband Adoption by India Lowest Worldwide, according to Akamai’s state of the Internet report.
All the right noises are being made. But nothing seems to be really moving. What gives?
