When Internet Launched In India
The Internet in India appeared in 1986 and was available only to the educational and research community. Internet general access began on August 15, 1995, and as of 2020, there are 718.74 million active Internet users, representing 54.29% of the population.
As of May 2014, the Internet is delivered to India mainly on 9 different submarine fibers including SEA-ME-WE 3, Bay of Bengal Gateway, and Europe-India Gateway which reach 5 different landing points. India also has one terrestrial Internet connection in the city of Agartala near the border with Bangladesh.
The Government of India has launched projects such as BharatNet, Digital India, Mad India, and Startup India to further accelerate the growth of the internet ecosystem.
The history of the Internet in India began with the launch of the Educational Research Network (ERNET) in 1986. The network was only available to the educational and research communities. ERNET was initiated by the Department of Electronics (DoE) with financial support from the Government of India and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) with eight leading institutions as participating agencies – NCST Bombay, Indian Institute of Science, five Indian Institutes of Technology (Delhi, Mumbai, Kanpur, Kharagpur, and Chennai) and the Ministry of Energy in New Delhi.
ERNET began as a multiprotocol network in which the TCP/IP and OSI-IP protocol stacks ran over a leased portion of the backbone. However, since 1995, almost all traffic has been transmitted over the TCP/IP protocol. The first 9.6 kbps leased line was installed in January 1991 between Delhi and Mumbai. ERNET was allocated a class B IP address of 144.16.0.0 NIC (then InterNIC) in 1990.
Subsequently, Class C addresses were allocated to ERNET by APNIC. By 1992, IIT, IISc Bangalore, DOE Delhi, and NCST Mumbai were all connected to a 9.6 kbit/s leased line. In the same year, a 64 kbps internet gateway link went live from NCST Mumbai at UUNet in Virginia, USA. NICNet was created in 1995 for communications between government agencies. The network was operated by the National Center for Informatics.
The first public Internet service in India was launched by the state-owned Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) on August 15, 1995. At that time, VSNL had a monopoly on international communications in the country, and private enterprise in this sector was prohibited.
The internet service known as the Gateway Internet Access Service (GIAS) provided 9.6 kbps and cost £5,200 for 250 hours for individuals, £16,200 for institutional dial-up SLIP/PPP accounts, and above. for dedicated line services.
However, over the next 10 years, the country’s Internet experience remained less attractive, as narrowband connections were less than 56 kbps (dial-up).
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) access was introduced in 1997.
In 2004, the government formulated its broadband policy, which defines broadband as “an always-on Internet connection with download speeds of 256 kbps or faster”.
Since 2005, the growth of the country’s broadband sector has accelerated, but remained below government and agency growth estimates due to resource issues in last-mile access, which were predominantly wired technologies.
This bottleneck was removed in 2010 when the government auctioned the 3G spectrum, followed by an equally high-profile 4G spectrum auction, which laid the foundation for a competitive and revitalized wireless broadband market.
Today, Internet access in India is provided by both public and private companies using various technologies and means, including dial-up (PSTN), xDSL, coaxial cable, Ethernet, FTTH, ISDN, HSDPA (3G), WiFi, WiMAX, etc. in a wide range of speeds and costs.
The Internet in India appeared in 1986 and was available only to the educational and research community. Internet general access began on August 15, 1995, and as of 2020, there are 718.74 million active Internet users, representing 54.29% of the population.
As of May 2014, the Internet is delivered to India mainly on 9 different submarine fibers including SEA-ME-WE 3, Bay of Bengal Gateway, and Europe-India Gateway which reach 5 different landing points. India also has one terrestrial Internet connection in the city of Agartala near the border with Bangladesh.
The Government of India has launched projects such as BharatNet, Digital India, Mad India, and Startup India to further accelerate the growth of the internet ecosystem.
The history of the Internet in India began with the launch of the Educational Research Network (ERNET) in 1986. The network was only available to the educational and research communities. ERNET was initiated by the Department of Electronics (DoE) with financial support from the Government of India and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) with eight leading institutions as participating agencies – NCST Bombay, Indian Institute of Science, five Indian Institutes of Technology (Delhi, Mumbai, Kanpur, Kharagpur, and Chennai) and the Ministry of Energy in New Delhi.
ERNET began as a multiprotocol network in which the TCP/IP and OSI-IP protocol stacks ran over a leased portion of the backbone. However, since 1995, almost all traffic has been transmitted over the TCP/IP protocol. The first 9.6 kbps leased line was installed in January 1991 between Delhi and Mumbai. ERNET was allocated a class B IP address of 144.16.0.0 NIC (then InterNIC) in 1990.
Subsequently, Class C addresses were allocated to ERNET by APNIC. By 1992, IIT, IISc Bangalore, DOE Delhi, and NCST Mumbai were all connected to a 9.6 kbit/s leased line. In the same year, a 64 kbps internet gateway link went live from NCST Mumbai at UUNet in Virginia, USA. NICNet was created in 1995 for communications between government agencies. The network was operated by the National Center for Informatics.
The first public Internet service in India was launched by the state-owned Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited (VSNL) on August 15, 1995. At that time, VSNL had a monopoly on international communications in the country, and private enterprise in this sector was prohibited.
The internet service known as the Gateway Internet Access Service (GIAS) provided 9.6 kbps and cost £5,200 for 250 hours for individuals, £16,200 for institutional dial-up SLIP/PPP accounts, and above. for dedicated line services.
However, over the next 10 years, the country’s Internet experience remained less attractive, as narrowband connections were less than 56 kbps (dial-up).
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) access was introduced in 1997.
In 2004, the government formulated its broadband policy, which defines broadband as “an always-on Internet connection with download speeds of 256 kbps or faster”.
Since 2005, the growth of the country’s broadband sector has accelerated, but remained below government and agency growth estimates due to resource issues in last-mile access, which were predominantly wired technologies.
This bottleneck was removed in 2010 when the government auctioned the 3G spectrum, followed by an equally high-profile 4G spectrum auction, which laid the foundation for a competitive and revitalized wireless broadband market.
Today, Internet access in India is provided by both public and private companies using various technologies and means, including dial-up (PSTN), xDSL, coaxial cable, Ethernet, FTTH, ISDN, HSDPA (3G), WiFi, WiMAX, etc. in a wide range of speeds and costs.
