India to have 100 Gbps internet speed by next year, says ISRO chief

Imagine broadband speed that is several hundred times faster than the current speed of internet in India. If ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation) Chairman Dr K Sivan's statement is anything to go by, India will have a superfast broadband connectivity of 100 Gbps after the launch of three major satellites as early as next year. As per Speedtest, India ranks 76 in terms of fixed downloading broadband speed of 24.56 Mbps. Average mobile internet download speed in the US is 70.75 Mbps while uploading speed is 27.64 Mbps.

As per the ISRO chief, four satellites will transform the way we change the internet in India -- GSAT-19, GSAT-29, GSAT-11 and GSAT-20.

"India has the world's second largest internet user base. But, our present broadband speed is 76th in the world. ISRO has already launched GSAT-19 in June 2017. This year, ISRO will launch GSAT-11 and GSAT-9, and early next, GSAT-20 will be launched. All these are high throughout satellites and together they will provide more than 100 Gbps high bandwidth connectivity across the country, which will help bridge the digital divide," Sivan said during the night convocation of Gitam, which is deemed to be a university, in Hyderabad, reported the Times of India. He also received an honorary degree of the doctor of science during the convocation.

Revealing India's big space programmes, the ISRO Chief said the government has allocated around Rs 10,900 crore for the launch of around 30 PSLVs (Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle), of which 10 GSLV Mk-3 will be launched by 2022.

The year 2016 brought a revolution in the Indian telecom industry after Reliance Jio 4G services were launched at dirt-cheap prices. But soon, the hay-days of 4G would also be over as the world is moving towards the first commercial deployment of 5G as early as this year. According to the Ericsson Mobility Report published in June, 5G network service will likely go into the history books as the start of an even bigger societal change, which will enable enhanced mobile broadband services like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and 4k videos. The 5G network spectrum would not only give users a luxury to use the internet like never before but it would generate huge revenue streams for network operators.

India is expected to fully adopt the 5G services by 2022. Operators in the United States will be among the first to launch 5G commercial services, says the report. The country's four major operators have publicly announced that they will begin providing 5G services between late 2018 and mid-2019.

Edited by Manoj Sharma