April 1, 2025, New Delhi: The digitalization boom, which got a push during the COVID pandemic and saw India’s broadband subscriber base grow to around 46 million home broadband subscribers (fixed & wireless) as of December 2024, appears to be sliding, leading Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to recommend capping broadband connectivity rates for public data offices (PDO). PDOs are essentially businesses that purchase internet bandwidth and then sell them to multiple customers. TRAI believes making costs more reasonable would help expand internet access by setting up public Wi-F in hotspots under the PM-WANI initiative started five years ago to provide better digital access across the country.

Broadband push by telcos biggies Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio through fixed wireless access (FWA), which are cheaper to deploy than fibre, has placed Local internet service providers (ISPs) in a fix as they face erosion of revenue and margins. Out of 2,000 ISP licenses, 1,300 are active and the past six months have seen multiple new licenses coming in and cancelling out, amidst a slow consolidation as shrinking margins. Even larger ISPs are burning cash, as they need expensive over-the-top (OTT) tie ups to fight the big players.

“ISPs are price-takers and not price-makers because they lease bandwidth from the telcos,” said Rajesh Chharia, president, ISP Association of India, told Economic Times. “The pricing intensity of telcos along with OTT bundling has shrunk our margins lately. Therefore, many news ISPs are finding it difficult to scale and sustain beyond six months.”

Top ISPs in India include Reliance-backed Hathway, ACT Fibernet, Excitel and Tikona, who are fighting for a share of some 300 million addressable homes for the home broadband market in India. Industry think tank Broadband India Forum had last year urged the government to consider reducing the statutory fees and GST exemption on service revenues for fibre connectivity and W-Fi broadband deployments to help the industry scale up to meet rising demands.

As against around 11% of households connected to fixed broadband in October 2024, over 55% of the population was reported to be accessing the internet via mobile broadband. FWA data usage was reported to be 16 times greater than that of mobile data, which was pegged at around 30 GB per subscriber per month. Ericsson estimates that 5G-powered FWA will rise sharply in India, reaching 85-100 million homes by 2030.

Despite reported growth in infrastructure, quality of internet connectivity remains a concern of many fixed line internet users along with responsiveness to disruption complaints. Through a comprehensive national survey LocalCircles has strived to find out how consumers connect to the internet at home and what are the issues they face in getting proper connectivity. The study received over 140,000 responses from fixed line internet users located in 333 districts of India. 62% respondents were men while 38% respondents were women. 47% respondents were from tier 1, 24% from tier 2 and 29% respondents were from tier 3 and 4 districts.

87% consumers who have a fiber/broadband/dsl/fixed line connection at home connect to internet using that

Broadband or fiber fixed line connection to mobile connections, there are many options available for using the internet at home. The survey asked those with a fixed line internet connection at home, “How do you primarily connect to the internet from your home?” The question received 26,502 responses with 87% stating that they “use their fiber/ broadband/ dsl/ fixed line connection”; 6% of respondents indicated that they “use internet connection device or dongle from mobile service provider”; 6% of respondents “use a hotspot via 3G/4G/5G mobile connection”; 1% of respondents stated that they “use other ways” not mentioned. To sum up, over 8 out of 10 consumers surveyed who have a fiber/broadband/dsl /fixed line connection at home connect to internet using that.

37% fiber/broadband/dsl/fixed line users say they have 3 or more issues every month with their connection

As most people in top tier locations prefer to have fiber/broadband/dsl/fixed line connection at home for speed reasons and multiple members of the household using the connectivity, the survey asked, “If you have a fiber/broadband/dsl/fixed line connection for internet at home, how many times in a month do you generally have issues with it?” The question received 29,529 responses with 12% stating that they have issues with the fiber/broadband/dsl/fixed line connection at home “more than 10 times” in a month; 5% of respondents stated “5-10 times" in a month; 20% of respondents indicated “3-5 times" in a month; 36% of respondents stated it happens “once or twice” a month. However, 23% of respondents stated they “do not face any issues” and 4% of respondents did not give a clear answer. To sum up, 37% fiber/broadband/dsl/fixed line users say they have 3 or more issues every month with their connection at home.

62% fiber/broadband/dsl/fixed line users struggle with either connection disruption issues or lower speed received than promised/paying for

The survey next asked consumers, “If you have a fiber/broadband/dsl/fixed line connection for the internet at home, what is your top issue with it?” The question received 29,701 responses with 32% stating that they face “frequent disruptions”; 30% stated that “speed received is much lower than what we are paying for”; 3% of respondents stated that they “feel our router is being used by someone else as random websites open up when trying to access internet”; and 3% stated “other issues” not mentioned. In addition, 29% of respondents clarified that they “do not face any issues” while 3% of respondents did not give a clear answer. To sum up, 62% fiber/broadband/dsl/fixed line users struggle with either connection disruption issues or lower speed received than promised/paying for.

51% fiber/broadband/dsl/fixed line users say when they raise a complaint, it takes the service provider more than 24 hours to resolve

When faced with connection problems or speed issues, consumers need to approach the service provider. The survey asked consumers, “If you have a fiber/broadband/dsl/fixed line connection for internet at home and you have raised a complaint with the provider, how long on average does it typically take for them to resolve it?” Out of 29,240 consumers who responded to the question, 7% stated “7+ days”; 4% of respondents stated “4-7 days”; 35% stated “1-3 days"; 43% of respondents stated that the issue is resolved “within 24 hours”. However, 2% of respondents stated that the operator “never resolve it” and 1% of respondents did not give a clear answer. In addition, 5% of respondents stated that they “haven’t had any complaints in the last 1 year”. To sum up, 51% fiber/broadband/dsl/fixed line users say when they raise a complaint, it takes the service provider more than 24 hours to resolve. LocalCircles and other social media platforms like Twitter are full of complaints about delayed resolution by operators.

66% fiber/broadband/dsl/fixed line users say they are willing to switch to an alternate provider for better quality, service or price

When a product or service is found unsatisfactory consumers tend to switch to another choice if available, which is very much the case in the telecom sector. The survey asked consumers, “What is it that will make you switch from your current broadband/ fiber/dsl/fixed line service provider to an alternate service provider?” Out of 26,883 consumers who responded to the question 24% stated “better connection quality and uptime” could make them switch from current service provider; 18% stated “lower monthly price for similar speed/ quota connection” could be a factor; 22% are willing to switch if they get “higher speed/ quota for similar monthly price”; and 2% of respondents are willing to switch for “other reasons” not mentioned. In addition, 32% of respondents stated that they are “happy with my provider and will not switch” and 2% of respondents did not give a clear answer. To sum up, 66% fiber/broadband/dsl/fixed line users say they are willing to switch to an alternate provider for better quality, service or price.

In summary, the study brings out the fact that 87% of consumers surveyed who have a fiber/broadband/dsl /fixed line connection at home use it to connect to the internet and not their mobile hotspot or dongle. However, 37% fiber/broadband/dsl/fixed line users say they have 3 or more issues every month with their connection at home. According to 62% fiber/broadband/dsl/fixed line users surveyed, they struggle with either connection disruption issues or lower speed received than promised or they are paying for. The painful fact is that 51% fiber/broadband/dsl/fixed line users say when they raise a complaint, it takes the service provider more than 24 hours to resolve the issues. Given the current scenario, 66% fiber/broadband/dsl/fixed line users say they are willing to switch to an alternate provider for better quality, service or price. As home internet is used for not just entertainment but also office/ professional work apart from students who use it also for educational purposes, and making use of the internet to make a living, LocalCircles plans to share the survey report with TRAI in the hope that remedial measures will be initiated and service providers will be made more accountable for Quality of Service or QoS.

Survey Demographics

The study received over 140,000 responses from fixed line internet users located in 333 districts of India. 62% respondents were men while 38% respondents were women. 47% respondents were from tier 1, 24% from tier 2 and 29% respondents were from tier 3 and 4 districts. The survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform, and all participants were validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.