Google planning for 1GB Internet Bandwidth – We in India cannot get 1 mbps properly !

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Yeah, that’s right, Google has announced a trial program called Google Fiber for Communities that’s planning to launch an extremely fast, experimental broadband network that will deliver speeds up to 1Gb per second. That is freaking 1000 times more bandwidth speed that majority of Indian homes get !

Although a very tough task to achieve, with Google backing, there is a hope that it may become a reality. And if it does, just think about the what it would mean to be working with those kind of speed. Downloading an entire movie in less than 7-8 seconds, or watching full High-Definition content streaming online and what not !

But what about India? We can’t get even 1 mbps bandwidth properly.

I will give you my own example – I have 1 mbps unlimited line at my home from Reliance and in last 6 months, since I have had this connection, not once have I got the promised speed (I have tried others and they are even worse). Infact, sometimes speed is so bad that I cannot carry out simple tasks like browsing properly. Take a look at the snapshot below – I have 1mbps line and actual speeds that I got while I tested !

speed test

I have been hearing Government taking steps to increase broadband penetration and speeds, however, there is absolutely no improvement what-so-ever.

There are only hollow talks that we keep hearing all the time – Like currently TRAI is talking about getting 4G off the ground, when in reality even 3G seems to be a distant dream.

As it is our Internet penetration is one of the lowest in the world and so are our bandwidth speeds. Just to give you a perspective Our neighboring country China has an Internet penetration of close to 27% and speeds of above 2 mbps. Comparatively, India has average speeds of close to 800 kbps and internet penetration of less than 7% !

I know this post does not have any answers, but only questions – but I had to vent out this frustration – and BTW, do readers have answers to these questions?

23 Comments
  1. Nabajit says

    Really guys… 1GBPS .. I can’t even dream of 3g in my home . I live in a small town 10kms away from siliguri. U can’t believe that I don’t get 3g network in this horrible town
    .. Every sim I had tried but no.. No 3g service.. I use BSNL 2g here.. Which gives me a downloading speed of around 20KBPs.. And others are more worst…. So 1GBPS is a faraway dream for me

  2. Matt says

    Haha nice joke….. we dont even get constant speed of 1MBps and google plans for 1Gbps. this is funny.

    i dont think so it is feasible on present infrastructure we have.. its Feb 2013 and yet there is no sign of action for googles 1Gbps. i hope before i retire after 40yrs hence, i will get that speed by then.

  3. Giri Mudlapur says

    It is possible in India for II tier citites to implement these high speed projects for testing and continue further there, but for most Metro cities in India, Its chaos for digging out the place for Fiber Optic Cables Installation. Government should make some efforts towards this project.

  4. Tarun says

    I am sure that 1Gbps connection will come to India by the time my great grandson becomes a grandfather and BTW I’m only 21 right now . So don’t lose hope .

    In order to overthrow the corrupt government in India and to make India a ‘Developed Country’ . The most important step is to ……………………. Naah It ain’t gonna happen , who are we kidding “India = Developed” Yeah right !

    1. ?????? ?????? says

      We Students can… ! Never Lose Hope Dear Brother.. !!

      ?????? – ??????

  5. Joe John says

    1Gbps?? this is crazy!! i wish i cud use it some day.

    TRAI has redefined broadband again…. now they say always on 512Kbps connection as broadband, but airtel yet have 128Kbps broadband plan, this is ridiculous. They passed a article to have 2Mbps as minimum BB speed & DOT is working on it. lets see how long it takes for us to reach 2Mbps as base speed.

  6. Chandigarh Boy says

    In India everyone wants the best for pennies. In USA with more than 50% penetration and average bill coming to $40, companies can offer 4-5 Mbps easily. Fiber and cables are pre-laid before making the housing complexes, etc. In short all is taken care of.

    Here also everyone wants to leech right away into torrents, etc. Of course with a 1:25 international gateway contention ratio the speed cannot be maintained as promised.

    Also in India you must have noticed that Upload speeds are restricted. I have a 2Mbps from AirTel (Rs 3500/month). It downloads at 2Mbps without hitch but uploads only at 500Kbps, that too on a nice day. So even if I pay premium I am only getting the download great, the upload of course sucks.

    Most users in India of the internet are from work and keep only a mobile internet connection to facebook or IM. They never purchase the home broadband.

    3G is 21 Mbps max. But with scores of leaches that speed vanishes since the BTS cannot offer everyone the same speed if all are connected the same time. Airwaves and spectrum don’t allow that.

    So when the society is so focused on getting everything for free, of course you will get only what the generous company has to offer.

    Pricewise internet in India is very cheap. Technology used to backhaul data is not that good. Wi-Max or any wireless technology needs to be throttled. Since there is a limit on what the airwaves can carry. 100Mbps in 4G is great, but if suddenly 100,000 people leach on it then 100Mbps becomes 1 Mbps or less. The company is not to be blamed for this.

    That is why they want to sell you landline connections, but we save money and never buy better connections. Then of course we the easiest thing: COMPLAIN.

  7. zion says

    We will get 1gbps speeds by the end of year 2050 with respect to current speeds and improvements over 10 years

  8. hitesh says

    i dont think that posting about india’s internet speed will make a difference. No one will hear us BTW ALL THEY(service provider) NEED IS MONEY.

  9. Joe says

    @ Ismee buddy if BSNL impose taxes others too bt atleast they dont cheat you by various ill methods like of Airtel…… for eg in my state if u pay 750 + 10.31% of service taxes to BSNL you can get constant speed of 512 Kbps without any FUP on unlimited downloads where as for airtel if u pay them 899 + 10.31% of service taxes you will get speed of 1Mpbs upto 8GB n den you will be thrown back to 256 Kbps coz they have FUPs imposed on all plans with unlimited facility. to add on to it they will charge you 500 for installation 250 for modem & 250 more if u need wifi means 1000 at time of installation den if u pay ur bill in dere CSCs they will not update it on they main server in mumbai & den next month u will get bill of previous month + this month + penalty of Rs. 75 on it, was it ur fault that they didnt updated their server? even if they are not done with it dey will keep playing with ur line if u are a heavy downloader. man sry to say bt BSNL is far better den Airtel coz they dont care if u pay bill on time, how much you download, they have their exchanges in every 2Kms of radius etc etc they even gives 20% off to govt employees where does Airtel stands to all these? suffering from all these from last 8 months im switching to BSNL now coz for us its “pay less & download more”

  10. Joe says

    Guys stop running behind 1Gbps we dont even get constant minimum speed of 512 Kbps & the worst part is our broadband definition “all time on connection with minimum speed of 512 Kbps (modified 256 Kbps to 512 Kbps in 2011 by TRAI)” you will be amused to know Bharti Airtel have BB plans of ‘128Kbps’

    South Korea host avg speed of 17.62 Mbps leading world followed by Romania with 15.27 Mbps. Even after Romania was ruled by a dictator & no words required for S.Korea. where India is 4th largest net user bt stand 128th on speed terms in world.

    I personally don’t see any scope of change coz, firstly we dont invest in BB infra & 2ndly if something somewhere somehow is invested politicians like A.Raja & responsible authorities stuff it into themselves.

  11. ram says

    Not only the speed is low – but service providers now impose download limits after which the speed becomes a mere 256 kbps – I receive just 30 kbps download speed in my 2 mbps connection since i crossed the download limit for the month –

  12. deepak says

    Well, it’s just not about internet or broadband services..there is no one who can stop this burglary by telecom companies in the country.. e.i. I’ve activated an SMS pack which doesn’t work on public holidays..WoW..
    Since the 3G has launched, 2G network is in it’s worst condition that I’ve ever seen, most of the time your call will not be connected in the 1st attempt, and when it gets connected then it gets disconnected soon… there’re many issues to be resolved with these robbers…

  13. AMIT says

    Dear Arun,

    I dont Know how knowledgable are you in the subject, But as you are a cheif Editor I cannot challange your Inteligence and knowledge.

    But as far as my knowledge and information concened the very test which you have conducted to check the bandwidth is not acceptable by ISP’s and does not show the exact speed.
    To Check your badwidth accurately you have to follow few things ( recommended by many ISP’s) however does not give real picture.

    1) Go to sites prefrably the ISP website or MIcrosoft/ Symatec or Some well Known Copanies website.

    2) search for a heavy file
    3) Dowload it..

    Put in atleast three or four Downloads at a time
    you will see windows showing the File transfer Status and the transfering report.. l
    4) leave it for some time( till it reaches to 30 or 40% downlaod at each.

    5) Jot down the transfer rate and add them and multiply the same.. that’s you currect Download speed.

    These Badnwidth meeter has no authencity..

    Also there are many other parameter why a person experinence lesser bandwidth.

    1) the equipments ( Customer & ISP’s Like Laptop, Modem or other network element used in India are of very Low end as Compare to US)

    2) Very Low literacy and penetration of bandwidth in India.
    3) Hig equipment and Hardware Cost
    4) Govt Policies..

    We shold not only Blame ISP’s or the contry its we who is also responsibile… We always see best value for money and forget that every gud things comes with a cost….

    1. Arun Prabhudesai says

      Amit Well said…. What I mentioned about Indian Internet speeds was a generic feeling and it is not my experience alone in exception. However, thanks for your comment…

  14. Ismee says

    Yes, it’s absolutely CORRECT!!!

    INDIA ! Will never get 1 GB Internet Speed and cannot become the developed country.

    How can it improve, when we have 99% corrupted government officials and politicians ?

    From the experience experts says that more than 50% of the allocated money is eaten by officials.

    When it comes to BSNL it is the worst government company. They advertise different price and when customer give them opportunity. They impose taxes on bill and Service is the Worst in BSNL.

    The Minimum Internet Speed should be above 1 MBps and in India people are using even 64 kbps.

    Now Imagine INDIA

  15. mayavi says

    while 1GB still “far far away” from realty, I just moved to US and internet is blazing fast.. !
    you can get arond 10Mbps pretty standard.. which is still much faster than 512Kbps (20 times!) that you get normally in India (well at least in metros!).

    It just saddening to see new reports of our telecom minister A.Raja frauding some 5000 crores or so (not sure abt the exact figures!).. all these guys are just dragging much needed telecom infrastructure in India.. I clearly remember that our telecom industry/infrastructure leaped through bounds when Kalanidhi Maran was the telecom minister..!!

    I wish some would organize a petition to the prime-minister demanding that we need to improve the telecom infrastructure.. trak.in ?? :)

  16. Yugam says

    Hi! You are absolutely right, In India we cannot get 1 Mbps speed propelry. We are in 126th position in the world in Internet Speed. So bad. Hope we improve in future.

  17. Abhilash Kushwaha says

    I agree with you. I am sure what cost structure for the ISPs is. But if some company can provide true broadband speed at a reasonable price (say 2 MBPS unlimited for Rs. 1000, 5MBPS unlimited for Rs. 2000) I am sure they will be able to corner a huge market share.

    I do not know whether this is profitable or not. I think the biggest cost is the last mile connectivity. A way to overcome this would be a 2 year contract with the subscriber to monetize the cost of laying cable to our home.

  18. Santhosh says

    WE will see these speeds one day but at what price is the question. Right now companies like Airtel, Reliance, TATA are making a killing by charging high prices and providing pathetic broadband speeds:(

  19. Vishal Sanjay says

    In India people value the price more than the speed, so even if there is a 1 Gb bandwidth in the coming years, its truly won’t penetrate Indian markets if its priced too high. I really can’t imagine how fast a page would load in such high speeds, but I’m sure it will be here in India some day.

    1. Arun Prabhudesai says

      Vishal…Dream on…I dont think we will ever see 1GB speeds in India – It will just remain that – A dream !!!!!!

      1. Vishal Sanjay says

        Okay!! we may not see this in just a few years, but we will have access to this someday and I bet even the common man will have access to it.

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