Soon, rural India homes will have internet access via cable TV network

Rural India, with an estimated population of 918 million as per 2011 census, has only 186 million internet users

Soon, rural India may have access to broadband services through cable networks. To boost rural internet connectivity, the ministry of information and broadcasting and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) proposed to provide broadband services through existing cable networks.

According to ministry officials, the move has the potential to provide internet connectivity to nearly 190 million households that have television sets. A Times of India report says that about 100 million homes already have cable TV subscription.

Trai chairman R S Sharma said that such a move can increase internet connectivity through fixed line networks from the existing 7