Telecom operators may not be able to reserve premium 5G capacity for paying customers if it comes at the expense of everyone else.
With Bharti Airtel rolling out 5G network slicing for postpaid users in India—a technology that creates dedicated, high-speed network lanes—the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has proposed safeguards to ensure standard users do not suffer degraded internet quality.
In draft quality-of-service (QoS) regulations issued on Wednesday, the regulator proposed that if a mobile cell remains more than 80% loaded during its peak busy hour on any five days in a month, telecom operators must take timely steps to increase capacity.
A cell is the local neighbourhood covered by a single antenna on a cellular tower. Loading refers to the volume of data uploads and downloads handled by that antenna.
If operators are unable to reduce loading below 80% through network improvement or capacity enhancement measures such spectrum deployment within 30 days, they will have to remove those cells from network slicing.
“The Authority is of the view that as long as the service providers provisions sufficient capacity in each cell under network slicing, the QoS (quality of service) for each slice can be ensured in line with the view expressed by other regulators,” Trai said.
It added that operators must ensure sufficient network capacity before launching any new network slice.
Operators will also have to submit details of proposed network slices to the regulator at least 21 days before launch, demonstrating that sufficient capacity is available in the cells included in different slices.
“It look likes the parameter to check the loading on cells is going to be complex. The same could even curb innovation by service providers as the stated regulation will be very challenging to implement technically,” said Satya N. Gupta, former principal advisor at Trai.
According to Gupta, Trai could begin with lighter regulations focused on ensuring that network slicing does not affect internet speeds for regular users.
Guardrails for Fastlane
The draft rules come months after Bharti Airtel introduced its Fastlane service for postpaid users in May, using 5G network slicing technology to offer a differentiated experience. The service also drew scrutiny over whether it could violate net neutrality.
“What happens with the slicing technology is…we are able to generate more capacity in the network. At an empty network level, it does not make a substantial tangible difference, but when networks get congested and you are in a crowd. Those are the places, when it starts showing differential experience,” Shashwat Sharma, managing director and chief executive officer of Airtel India, said during the company's Q1 earnings call on Wednesday.
According to Sharma, the company has been able to provide a differentiated experience to postpaid users through Fastlane, although he said it makes no meaningful difference when the network is uncongested.
Airtel added a record 1 million postpaid users in the June quarter, taking its total postpaid base to 30 million. The company said the launch of its Fastlane 5G postpaid service was a major contributor to that growth.
Under the draft regulations, operators will have to monitor cell loading and traffic, and for granular monitoring submit separate capacity-usage details for every slice in every cell.
Trai has invited stakeholder comments on the draft regulations until 26 August.
Broader QoS overhaul
The regulator said its approach aligns with international practice. Regulators in the European Union, the UK, France and the United States recognise the value of 5G network slicing while requiring safeguards to protect open internet access for general users.
The Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) and the UK's Ofcom permit differentiated network slices only when sufficient capacity exists and they do not degrade standard public internet access services.
France evaluates slice deployments case by case for their impact on public internet availability, while the US monitors such offerings to ensure they are not used to circumvent net neutrality protections, including prohibitions on throttling, paid prioritisation or unreasonable discrimination.
Separately, Trai proposed a broader overhaul of telecom quality-of-service standards.
Operators would have to publish technology-wise (2G/3G/4G/5G) coverage maps on their websites for all areas where wireless voice or broadband services are available, and classify coverage as Excellent, Good, Fair or No Coverage.
The regulator also plans to publish a comprehensive service-wise Quality of Experience Score (QoES), combining technical network performance, customer service and consumer perception to provide users with a consolidated view of operators' service quality.
“Every service provider shall, in all its tariff offerings for broadband (wireless) service, indicate the technology wise typical download and upload speed generally available to the subscribers,” Trai said.
For customer service, the draft proposes reducing the maximum timeline for resolving billing and charging complaints from four weeks to one week, with 100% resolution required within that period.
Trai also proposed introducing a new voice-quality metric—Silence Call Rate—to monitor instances where a call remains connected but no audio is transmitted. The proposed threshold is less than 1%.