Despite the rollout of vaccines in many countries, Covid-19 is still wreaking destruction around the world, since a year. A lockdown has also been imposed to prevent spread of the virus. Amid the raging covid cases, many companies have adopted the Work From Home option. During work from home the internet usage at home has increased tremendously. So now Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai)is considering giving direct subsidies to customers to boost landline broadband services in the country.
TRAI has issued a supplementary consultation paper seeking the views of all stakeholders. The idea of giving a subsidy of Rs 200 per month to the customers is currently underway. Corona has led to an increase in work from home. Many are working with the help of mobile networks. This has put a huge strain on the mobile network. To reduce this stress, TRAI is considering launching a landline broadband service. There are currently over 75 crore broadband connections in the country. Of these, 73 crore people use mobile broadband services while only 2.26 crore people have broadband connections.
TRAI has released a supplementary consultation paper with a view to expanding landline broadband services. It asks whether customers can be given a subsidy of Rs 200 per month for landline broadband services or a discount on the license charges of telecom companies. According to TRAI, the government should encourage telecom companies to invest in expanding landline broadband services. The regulator asked stakeholders to submit their comments by June 3 and counter-comments by June 10.
According to the Department of Telecommunications, the exemption of telecom companies' license fees could be taken advantage of. Therefore, TRAI in a consultation paper has called for votes on the subsidy model to increase the number of broadband services in remote and rural areas where subscribers cannot afford the tariffs of fixed connections.The authority has asked whether the DBT scheme be made applicable to select segments of the society based on economic conditions of individual households. India ranks 129th out of 138 countries in terms of broadband speed.
India ranks 75th out of 178 countries in landline broadband. India needs to work on a new option to drive landline broadband. TRAI believes that the number of customers can easily increase if the government subsidizes it.