Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea oppose Trai 5G rules
Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, and Vodafone Idea aren't thrilled with Trai's new draft rules for 5G network slicing.
The rules are meant to keep mobile internet smooth by capping congestion so that no more than 1% of an operator's total cells in a service area can exceed the congestion threshold in a month, and requiring congestion on a cell to be cleared within 30 days.
Carriers urge Trai to revise rules
The companies say these regulations could slow down tech upgrades, limit flexibility, and risk exposing sensitive data.
Jio said the rules were "against the letter and spirit of efficient spectrum utilization, technology neutrality and ease of doing business policies of the Government and should not be implemented,"
while Airtel said Trai has not indicated any international precedent for the proposed framework, and
Vodafone Idea said the proposed parameter should be deleted.
Alternatively, Vodafone Idea said Trai should "adopt a technology-neutral and outcome-based regulatory approach focusing on actual consumer experience rather than internal network resource utilization metrics."
They also pushed back on stricter timelines for customer complaints and rebates during outages, saying it would make running networks harder.
Trai defends rules, mandates 3-week notice
TRAI responded that these guidelines follow international best practices and aim to make sure everyone gets fair internet access.
Operators would also need to give TRAI a heads-up three weeks before launching any new slicing services.