Can you believe that India's internet speed is this slow?

Despite having one of the largest number of Internet users in the world, India's digital ambitions continue to be delayed by slow Internet connection speeds. India had both the slowest average connection speed and peak connection speed in Asia-Pacific.

In comparison to India's paltry average connection speed of 2.8 Mbps, South Korea had the highest in Asia-Pacific and the world at 26.7 Mbps. India also had the lowest average peak connection speed at 21.2 Mbps, while Singapore retained the top spot at 135 Mbps.

Overall, India occupied the 115th position for average connection speed and the 114th position for average connection speed globally. The average page load time for a broadband connection in the country was 3.9 seconds!

India's slow Internet is a big problem. A few months ago, the country overtook the US in the world's second-largest Internet user base, with an estimated 402 million users. Over 76% Indians access the Internet on their mobiles, but they are plagued by patchy and slow connections.

Google and other Internet companies have tackled the problem by tweaking their products for the country's slow Internet speeds and spotty connections. Google has introduced numerous offline features, such as letting users download YouTube videos to watch later and use Google Maps with turn-by-turn voice navigation without Internet. It is also modifying web pages, Chrome and its search results to reach users who may not have Internet connection.

India is one of the five biggest markets for Facebook Lite, the stripped-down version of the social networking app. The app, which provides data-efficient Facebook access to people with slow connections, was developed with the help of research in India.

There are however some signs of change. For instance, a recent report indicates that India doubled its rates of 4 Mbps and 15 Mbps broadband adoption in 2015, as compared to 2014.

Several private and government initiatives are trying to bring high-speed Internet to Indians. India's telecom ministry has announced that the state-run carrier BSNL will set up 2,500 public Wi-Fi hotspots across the country by March next year. Microsoft is working on using "white space" or unused TV spectrum to offer free Wi-Fi to Indians.

Google is even working on introducing free, high-speed Wi-Fi at 400 train stations across the country. The company aims to reach 10 million people by enabling Wi-Fi in 100 train stations in the first phase itself. Remarkably, the speed will be fast enough to stream high-definition video!

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