Broadband Policy in India: What Do We Know? What Do We Need to Know?

Abstract

In some technology sectors in India, particularly in software services, public policies and private initiative have yielded rapid growth and good private and social returns. But this has not been true for the case of the Internet, more so for broadband. There is strong belief among technologists and policymakers that broadband stimulates economic growth. That being so, it is puzzling as to why broadband adoption in India is and remains low, even falling short of modest official projections by half. This paper makes the case for information-driven policymaking by summarizing the current state of knowledge in this area and arguing that (a) we do not have a good understanding of the drivers and economic effects of broadband in India, and (b) this lack of understanding is largely due to the absence of a systematic way of monitoring the technological pulse of the nation.

Keywords: India, Broadband, ICT, Policy

JEL Classification: L86, L96, L98, O25