TRAI’s Early Assessment Suggests That Airtel’s Priority Postpaid Plan Doesn’t Violate Net Neutrality: Report

About a month after Airtel’s Priority Postpaid stirred debate over net neutrality, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)’s preliminary assessment of the plan reportedly indicates that it might not be in violation of net neutrality guidelines.

Citing sources aware of the matter, PTI reported that the telecom regulator is seeking more information from Airtel about the plan and has asked the telecom major to furnish specific technical data and clarifications regarding quality of service. 

TRAI is also said to be examining whether Airtel’s proposal, which involves network slicing, unfairly degrades the service quality for standard 5G subscribers, particularly prepaid users. 

As per the report, the regulator hasn’t set any timeline for completing the review and will continuously monitor the scenario. 

Airtel’s Priority Postpaid services, launched in May, promises consistent 5G speeds in crowded environments. The plan starts at ₹449 a month (excluding GST) and goes all the way to ₹1,749 per month. 

The priority service utilises network slicing technology, a method that divides a single physical network into multiple virtual “slices” – each tailored to specific user needs or performance requirements. 

However, the rollout triggered concerns that segregating network chunks for premium users would compromise the core principle of net neutrality. 

Critics believe that Airtel’s Priority Postpaid plan creates user-based discrimination, rather than content-based discrimination, by ensuring that affluent postpaid customers enjoy “fast lanes” in terms of speed and stability. 

Airtel has defended its strategy to both TRAI and a Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, stating that this new service is content-neutral and does not harm the connectivity of other consumers. It has also pointed out similar plans launched by carriers in the US, UK, and Singapore. 

While rival VI has taken a stance against Airtel in marketing campaigns, India’s biggest telco Reliance Jio backed Airtel, informing the parliamentary panel that 5G network slicing is compatible with India’s net neutrality framework, provided there’s no degradation of regular internet services. 

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