TRAI targets 100 mn broadband subscribers by 2014

NEW DELHI, INDIA: India's telecom regulator Tuesday said it was targeting a 10-fold increase in broadband subscribers to 100 million by 2014.

The country has 10.29 million subscribers now. "We will have 100 million broadband subscribers by 2014," Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman J.S. Sarma said at the fifth India Digital Summit 2010 organised by the Internet and Mobile Association of India.

He said TRAI will come up with its recommendations on a national broadband plan in a day or two.

Sarma said the regulator was also planning a licensing regime for value added services (VAS).

TRAI has stated in a consultation paper that the non-availability of national broadband network to provide connectivity up to village level, non-availability of content in vernacular language and affordability of broadband were factors affecting the growth of broadband in India.

As per TRAI, the high broadband tariff in the country was due to the lack of sufficient competition.