Wireless communication has evolved dramatically over the last few years and it has played a very crucial role in changing the way we use and consume data today. With high speed, convenience and affordability, wireless communication has transformed the world. Today many internet service providers offer great plans and offers.
For the present-day age, 4G broadband and high-speed WI-FI networks are essential requirements. In future, technologies such as 5G and IoT (Internet of Things) will play a crucial role in moulding the generation’s lifestyle. However, before getting into the future, let’s dive into understanding the evolution of the internet in India.
The government of India has introduced multiple projects for enhancing internet growth in India, which include Digital India, BharatNet, Startup India and Made in India. Famous biography who times news and profiles of celebrities you ought to be aware.
History of the Internet in India
While the internet was introduced around the 1960s, Indians had no internet access until 1986. Indians got exposure towards the internet with the establishment of ERNET (educational research network), a joint of DOE (department of electronic) and UNDP (united nations development program). Initially, the internet connection was just intended for use by scientific and educational organisations.
Note that VSNL (Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd.) – now recognised widely as Tata Communications – first opened cyberspace in India in around August 1995. Initially, people connected to an internet network through a modem, a machine that permitted personal computers to send signals over standard lines of phones by transferring analogue signals to digital ones.
The modem was a tough creature to tame. It is because it made a huffing-like sound and would be tough to connect to phone lines. You had to dial repeatedly to join with internet service provider’s (ISP) computer network. Moreover, even if it eventually connected, there was zero assurance that you would access the internet network without disruptions.
The president of VSNL – BK Syngal, the technical director at VSNL – Amitabh Kumar, tech enthusiasts like Miheer Mafatlal, Kanakasabapathy, Vijay Mukhi, and Shammi Kapoor, the Bollywood star was involved in introducing and strengthening the base of internet network in India.
By the time the internet network came into existence to the public at large, World Wide Web (WWW) had developed, so there was access to online browsers like Netscape Navigator and Mosaic. The gateway of VSNL, i.e., GIAS (gateway internet access service), was initially available in Delhi, Bombay, and Madras. By 1995, the service was expanded to cover Pune and Bengaluru.
Nonetheless, the formal internet opening for Indian consumers acted as a colossal blunder as VSNL underestimated the demand, which got compounded by network concerns and hardware. On the other side, VSNL introduced 10,000 internet subscribers in nearly 6 months after its debut failed. One year later, Nasscom, a software lobbying group, set up a VSNL stand in Bombay’s Nehru Centre to showcase the true potential of the internet network.
How has the internet speed evolved?
In 1995, the commercially available first internet service provider offered a dial-up speed of as high as 9.6 kbits/s. The speed of the network was upgraded as well as modems were improved that support connections of 28.8 – 33.4 kbit/s by the year 1998. The dial-up was ultimately updated to endow analogue speeds of as high as 56 kbit/s.
The Indian government started its broadband strategy around 2004, defining broadband as the always-on internet network access with a download speed of 256 kbit/s or more. In the year 2013, the term got updated to include internet broadband as “data connection that offered interactive services, especially access to the internet network. In the year 2014, the minimal download speed got upgraded from 256 kbit/s to around 512 kbit/s.
In the year 2016, TRAI started a regulation for each fixed broadband internet service provider requiring them to ensure that the lowest download speed of the network is not less than 512 kbit/s even post a customer has finished their allotted data. TRAI even directed all internet service providers to instruct their users via email or SMS when they crossed 50 per cent, 90 per cent or 100 per cent of a specific data limit.
With an average download speed of nearly 8.66 Mbit/s, our country has been placed at the 74th position out of 207 nations in the 2019 World broadband league. The common speed of the internet in India equals 6.5 Mbit/s, with the highest bandwidth equaling 41.4 Mbit/s, according to the Akamai 2017 internet report of the State. In terms of the average speed available on the internet, India was placed at the 89th position. 42 per cent of Indian internet users have a thorough internet speed of over 4 Mbit/s, 19 % have speeds of over 10 Mbit/s, and 10 per cent have speeds of over 15 Mbit/s. The average network speed on the cellular network in India was 4.9 Mbit/s.
