According to data from theTelecom Regulatory Authority of India(TRAI), Internet subscribers in Gujarat stood at 4.8 crore as on December 31, 2020 against 4.4 crore a year earlier. According to telecom sources, with more people working from Home, the number of internet users has increased.
According to the TRAI data, the number of connections grew in both rural and urban areas. However, in the rural areas, the rate of increase was faster than in urban areas, albeit on a lower base.
Rural internet subscribers grew by 13% in this period from 1.31 crore in 2019 to 1.47 crore in 2020, whereas urbaninternet subscribernumbers rose by 8.9% from 3.12 crore in 2019 to 3.41 crore in 2020. The number of people shifting to high-speed connections also increased in this the same period. According to the report by TRAI, the number of narrowband subscribers i.e. those opting for internet connections with slower speeds, fell. The number of people opting for broadband or high-speed connections went up. In 2020, the number of narrowband internet users fell by 17.5 lakh or 28.5%, against 24.5 lakh such subscribers in 2019.