Archive · 4 Sep 2026
Telcos Resist TRAI’s Proposed 5G Network Slicing Rules
5G network slicing lets phone companies create special virtual lanes for different users or services.
These lanes might offer higher speed, lower delays or more reliable connections.
TRAI wants to make sure special lanes do not make regular customers’ service worse.
Its draft rules would require action when some 5G cells become heavily used.
If the problem continued for 30 days, priority slices on that cell would have to be disabled until more capacity was added.
Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone Idea say the proposed trigger measures network equipment use rather than what customers actually experience.
They also say giving TRAI 21 days’ notice before launching every new slice could delay services and reveal business plans.
TRAI says its approach includes safeguards used by regulators in several other markets.
The regulator has also proposed rules on coverage maps, muted calls, billing complaints and network outages.
Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea opposed TRAI’s proposed quality-of-service rules for 5G network slicing.
The draft would require operators to act when a 5G cell exceeds 80% peak-hour physical resource block utilisation on five days in a month.
Operators unable to clear congestion within 30 days would have to disable priority slices on the affected cell until additional capacity is deployed.
The telcos said the rules regulate internal network metrics, could slow innovation and may expose commercially sensitive information before service launches.
TRAI also proposed detailed coverage maps, a silence-call benchmark below 1%, faster billing-complaint resolution and outage compensation.
- Who
- The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and telecom operators Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea.
- What
- The operators opposed proposed quality-of-service requirements for 5G network slicing and other service-quality measures.
- When
- TRAI issued the draft regulations last month, and the operators submitted responses dated 2 September.
- Where
- The proposed rules apply to telecom networks and service areas in India.
- Why
- TRAI seeks to protect ordinary users from service degradation, while operators say the framework could restrict flexibility, slow innovation and burden operations.
TRAI’s proposed safeguards
Telecom operators’ objections
Protecting ordinary users
TRAI’s proposed safeguards
TRAI wants safeguards to prevent dedicated 5G slices from degrading the quality of the basic network used by ordinary subscribers.
Telecom operators’ objections
Jio and Airtel said any material deterioration should already appear in consumer-facing measures such as speed, throughput, latency or network availability.
Use of the 80% threshold
TRAI’s proposed safeguards
TRAI’s draft uses physical resource block utilisation and repeated cell congestion as triggers for capacity expansion and possible slice restrictions.
Telecom operators’ objections
The operators said physical resource block utilisation is an internal network metric and does not necessarily show customer experience. Vodafone Idea sought its removal or replacement with a technology-neutral, outcome-based approach.
Advance notice for new slices
TRAI’s proposed safeguards
TRAI would require operators to show they have enough capacity and provide 21 days’ advance notice before launching a new slice.
Telecom operators’ objections
The telcos said the requirement could slow rapidly changing enterprise and consumer services and reveal commercially sensitive product details before launch.
International practice
TRAI’s proposed safeguards
TRAI said its approach aligns with safeguards recognised by regulators in the European Union, the United Kingdom, France and the United States.
Telecom operators’ objections
Bharti Airtel said TRAI had not identified an international precedent for this specific framework and described it as an unprecedented constraint.
Other quality rules
TRAI’s proposed safeguards
TRAI proposed detailed coverage maps, silence-call monitoring, faster billing resolution and compensation for significant outages.
Telecom operators’ objections
Operators said several measures, including coverage-map requirements, could be technically impractical or operationally burdensome because real-world coverage varies with terrain, weather, devices and network load.
- Congestion trigger
- A 5G cell exceeding 80% peak-hour physical resource block utilisation on five days in a month would require corrective action.
- Cell limit
- No more than 1% of an operator’s cells in a service area could exceed the proposed congestion threshold in a month.
- Priority-slice restriction
- If congestion remained unresolved for 30 days, priority slices on the affected cell would have to be disabled until capacity was added.
- Launch notice
- Operators would have to demonstrate sufficient capacity and notify TRAI 21 days before launching a new 5G slice.
- Coverage maps
- TRAI proposed detailed geospatial coverage maps with more than 98% point-level accuracy and Excellent, Good, Fair and No Coverage classifications.
- Silence-call benchmark
- The proposed rate for call muting and audio-muffle problems is less than 1%.
- Customer remedies
- Billing and charging complaints would have a one-week resolution period with a 100% compliance target, while significant outages could trigger rent rebates or plan extensions.
