TRAI has suggested Internet Service Providers to reduce the price of broadband plans. The telecom regulator has asked to reduce the broadband connection charge in its proposal. TRAI has given this suggestion for the Wi-Fi connection used for Public Data Office (PDO). TRAI has included those offices in its proposal which provide public Wi-Fi service. This decision of the government is to increase the number of fixed Wi-Fi Spots, which is much less than the set target.
40 to 80 times more expensive
The telecom regulator believes that the price of Wi-Fi broadband used for public data offices is very high, due to which many users are suffering losses. TRAI found in its tariff order note that the Lease Line Tariff (LLT) is 40 to 80 times more expensive than Fiber-to-the-Home (FFTH), due to which users are not using it at all.
TRAI, citing a decrease in data usage in its proposal, said that according to the PM-Wani Central Registry, there has been a significant decline in daily average data usage. Till last year, the average data usage was 1GB daily, which has now come down to a few MB, which is much less than the monthly average data limit.
Advice to reduce price
TRAI has advised to reduce its price, citing a decrease in retail broadband connections. If service providers accept this suggestion of TRAI, then users using public Wi-Fi will benefit from it and data usage will increase. Due to the connection being cheaper, it will affect the overall data usage.
Users with fiber-to-the-home connection from telecom service providers can avail data at a speed of 100Mbps by spending Rs 700 per month. Users will have to spend many times more for a 100Mbps speed plan on leased line public Wi-Fi as compared to FTTH. Due to this, the number of leased line broadband users is also gradually decreasing.
