Trai’s rider plan may weigh on broadband expansion: Analysts

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s recommendations to boost broadband connectivity may have a limited impact as the proposed five-year licence fee waiver linked to companies achieving 15% year-on-year growth in their wired broadband user base is too stiff, industry experts and analysts said.

Such licence fee exemption with strings attached, they said, is inadequate to bridge the viability gap funding (VGF) involved in rolling out wired broadband networks in rural India. Rolling out wired broadband infrastructure in rural markets is several times more expensive than mobile broadband, and it has a weaker business case, they said.