NEW DELHI: There were 391.50 million Internet subscribers as on 31 December 2016. The government has said it is expected that number of internet users will increase in the country owing to fast adoption of digital technology,.

Minister of communications Manoj Sinha told the Parliament that the National Telecom Policy-2012 envisages 600 million broadband connections by 2020 at minimum 2 Mbps download speed.

According to National Association of Software & Services Companies (NASSCOM) –Akamai report launched on 17 August 2016 regarding “The Future of Internet in India”, 730 million Internet users are anticipated in the country by 2020.

The government has allocated 965 MHz spectrum through auction in October 2016 to various telecom service providers for access services. This will enable the telecom service providers to roll out 3G and 4G services which will facilitate proliferation of high speed internet facility.

The BharatNet project is also being implemented to provide 100 Mbps broadband connectivity to all Gram Panchayats (approximately 2,50,000) in the country by using an optimal mix of underground fibre, fibre over power lines, radio and satellite media.