By 2030, India could have robust digital infrastructure that provides gigabit connectivity to over 100 million people.

Industry experts believe that India has the potential to achieve gigabit connectivity to all households or at least 100-110 million households by 2030, as the country continues to strengthen its digital infrastructure. Despite being the leader in mobile broadband usage and the fastest-growing market in the world, India still falls behind in fixed or wired broadband compared to developed countries.

According to the Broadband India Forum, data shows that the average data consumption per month in India is 187 GB, which is significantly lower than the US's consumption of 641 GB. In addition, fixed broadband subscriptions in India are only at 2.85 per 100 people, which is one-fourth of the global average.

During a conference in New Delhi, experts emphasized the importance of having a higher availability of optic fibre to meet the ever-increasing demand for data. "As fixed broadband data usage is 10-20 times higher than mobile data consumption per capita, we need a minimum annual growth rate of 20% in fixed broadband subscriptions over the next six years to reach an additional 100 million fibre connections," said TV Ramachandran, President of BIF.

The conference also discussed the key elements of digital infrastructure such as optic fibre, mobile towers, licensed spectrum, data centres, Wi-Fi, CDNs, and undersea cables. RS Sharma, former chairman of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, stressed the need for India to aggressively work towards creating a widespread and inclusive optic fibre infrastructure to catch up with countries like China, US, and Europe in fibre broadband.

Sharma also highlighted the importance of creating millions of Wi-Fi hotspots across the country to ensure affordable broadband access for people in rural and semi-urban areas. With a strong and resilient digital infrastructure in place, India can bridge the gap and achieve its goal of providing gigabit connectivity to all households by 2030.

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