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New Delhi, Dec. 20: The government today announced that MTNL would upgrade all its existing broadband subscribers to 1 mbps Internet speed at existing rates from Januray 1.

“State-owned Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) would automatically upgrade all its existing broadband subscribers to Internet speed of 1 mbps from the current 256 kbps from 1 January, 2007 at existing rates,” IT and communications minister Dayanidhi Maran said.

Earlier, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) said it would offer broadband at a speed of up to 2 mbps at industry competitive rates from January.

At present, the department of telecommunication offers broadband at a maximum speed of up to 1 mbps to its residential subscribers.

The minister also asked private operators to match the high-speed connectivity of BSNL and MTNL.

There are about 20 lakh broadband subscribers in the country. Of this, 50 per cent subscribe to BSNL, whereas MTNL has 40 per cent of the total subscribers in Delhi and Mumbai.

Meanwhile, Aperto Networks will increase its investments in India to support its fast growing customer base and demand for its WiMax solutions for broadband connections.

Aperto, builder of advanced WiMax Forum Certified™ base stations and subscriber units, is increasing its investment in research and development, hardware and software development, sales and customer support, and is expanding its channel and technology partnerships across India.

“The demand for broadband is rapidly growing in India and thanks to its performance, time to market and cost advantages, WiMax is best-positioned to serve this huge Indian market,” said Manish Gupta, vice-president of marketing and alliances, Aperto Networks.

Aperto has deployed its solutions in networks of close to dozen operators across India, including BSNL. The PSU has begun rolling out Aperto’s carrier-class, WiMax Forum Certified™ products in several cities and rural areas to increase its reach and broadband speed.

“India is fast emerging as a major market for WiMax,” said Adlane Fellah, principal analyst, Maravedis Research. “With a population of more than one billion and a growing economy, India is a gigantic market for broadband and will benefit from a rapid deployment of these services, which in turn will accelerate GDP growth.”

Aperto’s WiMax development centre in Bangalore is expanding into a facility three times its original size.

In concert with the expansion of engineering activities, Aperto is setting up a customer support centre in Bangalore to provide level one and level two support to service providers at home and abroad.

In addition, Aperto is planning to establish an India distribution and repair facility.