A decade after India’s landmark net neutrality battle prevented telecom operators from favouring certain websites and apps, similar concerns have resurfaced over whether some internet users could receive better network access than others. Bharti Airtel’s new priority 5G postpaid plans have triggered fears that telcos may create premium fast lanes for higher-paying users in a market where network capacity and spectrum remain limited. Should some mobile users get faster internet speed? Mint explains
Why are Airtel’s 5G postpaid priority plans under scrutiny?
Last week, Bharti Airtel launched Priority Postpaid recharge plans, using 5G slicing that allows operators to divide network capacity into virtual lanes for different types of users, such as regular users, enterprise clients, and priority customers. This means users on priority plans get faster speeds than regular prepaid 5G users, allowing telcos to monetise 5G by offering better network quality to higher-paying users.
The move has revived net neutrality concerns, with experts arguing that creating premium fast lanes for some users could leave ordinary prepaid users on more congested parts of the network because of limited mobile internet capacity in India.
How does this fit with India’s net neutrality rules?
Net neutrality requires internet service providers not to block, throttle, discriminate against, or prioritise lawful internet traffic. The debate intensified in 2015 after Airtel Zero and Meta Platforms-backed Free Basics allowed selected apps and services to be accessed free of charge through telecom partnerships. Critics argued that such programmes distorted equal access to the internet. This led to regulations in 2017 banning content-based discrimination and differential pricing for data services.
Experts say the current framework was designed in the 4G era and does not clearly address user-based prioritization enabled by 5G slicing. Unlike earlier controversies centred on preferential treatment for apps or websites, the latest debate is over whether users paying more can legally receive superior network performance.
What do the government and regulators need to do?
The government and the regulator will have to revisit the rules. Think tank Broadband India Forum said premium slices should not reduce service quality for general internet users and that regulators would need to closely monitor implementation.
Regulators should ask telecom operators to disclose network capacity allocation, spectrum usage and auditable performance data to ensure ordinary users are not affected.
How do 5G faster lanes operate globally?
Globally, 5G faster lanes are enabled through network slicing and quality-of-service (QoS) prioritization, where operators divide a 5G standalone network into virtual slices with different performance levels. Operators in countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Europe and the US mainly use network slicing for enterprise and public-sector applications rather than broad consumer fast lanes.
Singapore-based Singtel has introduced premium consumer offerings that provide priority network access during congestion. In the US, operators such as T-Mobile and Verizon Communications have focused more on enterprise, government and emergency-service use cases.
Does 5G slicing risk widening India’s digital divide?
Analysts say the risks may be greater in India because of the country’s heavy dependence on mobile internet and relatively constrained spectrum availability per user. Indian users consume more than 31 GB average mobile data per user per month, according to Nokia’s Mobile Broadband Index 2025. At the same time, India continues to face network congestion and patchy indoor coverage in many areas.
Such an environment could widen the gap between affluent users and the broader prepaid user base.
The broader policy debate now is whether 5G in India should evolve into a tiered internet experience where users paying more consistently receive superior connectivity on an already capacity-stressed mobile network.