What is meant by broadband internet services?

Ministry of Communications & Information Technology

Broadband Internet Services
As per the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) report on “The Indian Telecom Services Performance Indicators” for January - March 2011 dated 28/07/2011, nine (9) Public sector and one hundred and thirty two (132) private sector companies are providing Broadband Internet Services in different licensed areas across the country.
TRAI has issued recommendations on National Broadband Plan on 8th December 2010. Para 6.21 and 6.22 of these recommendations with regard to speed of Broadband internet are as under
“6.21 The Authority recommends that:
Broadband connection may be defined as
“A data connection using any technology that is able to support interactive services including Internet access and support a minimum download speed of 512 Kilo bits per second (Kbps)”.
6.22 It is to be noted that the upload speed will atleast be half the download speed. This definition of broadband (Both Wireline and Wireless) given in para 6.21 above, which will be effective from 1st January 2011. The stipulated download speed of 2 Mbps will be effective from 1st January 2015.”
Licensed Telecom Service Providers are to provide Internet and Broadband services as per the terms and conditions of their respective license. However, in case of any violations, actions are taken as per the provisions of the respective Telecom licenses. Further, 34 Telecom Enforcement, Resource and Monitoring (TERM) Cells are functioning all across the country to curb illegal activities in telecom services and checking the compliance by the licencees, in respect of licence conditions and any directions issued by the licensor.
This information was given by Shri Milind Deora, Minister of State for Communication and Information Technology in written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.  Source: PIB