Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep 04: TRAI has proposed new quality-of-service rules for 5G slicing. Major telecom operators have raised significant concerns in response. The dispute centers on technical practicality and network flexibility. Operators question whether internal metrics should trigger regulatory action. TRAI’s stated aim is protecting ordinary users from degradation.
Under the draft rules, a 5G cell exceeding 80% utilisation during peak hours faces scrutiny. This applies if it happens on five days monthly. Across a service area, only 1% of cells can breach this threshold. Unresolved congestion within 30 days forces priority-slice shutdowns. Operators must also give TRAI 21 days’ advance notice.
5G network slicing creates dedicated, high-speed lanes within networks. It enables differentiated services for enterprise and specialised applications. TRAI’s stated goal is preventing service degradation for standard users. Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea have all objected formally.
Jio argues the mandate conflicts with efficient spectrum utilisation principles. It called PRB utilisation an internal radio-resource metric only. PRB, or Physical Resource Block, measures basic radio capacity usage. Jio said this differs fundamentally from actual customer experience. The company also warned advance notice could slow service launches. Detailed disclosure requirements might reveal commercially sensitive product information too.
Bharti Airtel argued genuine service degradation would surface through customer-facing metrics. These include throughput, speed and overall service availability directly. The company questioned needing separate mechanisms for every new slice. Airtel also noted no international precedent supports TRAI’s specific framework.
Vodafone Idea sought deletion of the proposed utilisation parameter entirely. It suggested a technology-neutral, outcome-based regulatory approach instead. This would focus on actual consumer experience over internal metrics. Any threshold should reflect genuine resource contention, the company argued.
TRAI maintains its approach aligns with international regulatory practice broadly. Regulators in the EU, UK, France and US recognise slicing’s value. These jurisdictions also require safeguards protecting open internet access.
Beyond slicing rules, TRAI proposed other quality-of-service changes too. These include detailed coverage maps with over 98% accuracy. A silent-call benchmark below 1% and faster billing-complaint resolution also feature. Operators called several of these measures technically difficult to implement.
The debate ultimately reflects a broader regulatory challenge. Balancing consumer protection, network innovation and operational flexibility remains complex. How TRAI resolves these competing concerns will shape 5G’s evolution.
