TRAI chairman Ram Sevak Sharma feels that India needs to explore other possibilities to improve internet experience. In an exclusive interview, he tells Arindam Mukherjee that the government should allow Cable TV operators to provide high-speed internet, bringing 100 million cable TV homes into the internet fold.

Why is internet so slow in India and the service so bad?

Internet is different in India from what it is in the US, where 60 per cent have fixed lines, all converted into ADSL, DSL and FTTH (fibre-to-the-home) so they give very fast internet speeds. Besides, 50-60 per cent homes use the cable TV network, which is also used to deliver broadband. And wired broadband is always a better option. In India, only 20 million have fixed telephone lines and that too is going away slowly. Also, its quality is quite bad and it is copper and cannot take high speeds.

Why haven’t we allowed cable internet?

We have not been able to leverage the 100 million cable TV homes in India...