TRAI issues consultation paper on standards for access and broadband services

New Delhi [India], August 18 (ANI): The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on Friday issued its Consultation Paper on ‘Review of Quality-of-Service Standards for Access Services (Wireless and Wireline) and Broadband (Wireless and Wireline) Services,’’ a press release from the Ministry of Communications stated. 
The TRAI has been receiving a number of complaints from subscribers regarding call drops and other network-related issues, especially after the rollout of 5G services.
Upon detailed analysis of quarterly Quality of Service (QoS) performance reports, the Authority has noted that due to the long performance assessment period of a quarter over a large area like LSA, there may be pockets or areas experiencing poor quality of service due to averaging effect while service providers are meeting overall QoS benchmark at LSA level, the release said.
Accordingly, to have a closer view of the status of QoS, the draft regulations propose monthly QoS performance reporting at State and UT levels in addition to at the LSA level. The QoS parameters and benchmarks for voice and data services are technology agnostic in present regulations. The relevant terminology for 5G services has also been updated in draft regulations to monitor the QoS performance of 5G.
As 4G and 5G networks are providing much wider coverage in the country compared to the 2G and 3G networks, stringent performance benchmarks, especially related to call drops, are proposed for 4G and 5G services to improve the consumer experience, the press statement said.
Network availability is an important requirement for good QoS. Therefore, the performance against the service provider’s network availability is proposed to be monitored at State and UT levels to ensure that consumers get uninterrupted services.
To simplify the regulatory framework for QoS, it is proposed to have single regulation dealing with QoS standards for all voice and data services irrespective of their access medium, for both wireline and wireless services. Accordingly, present three regulations are proposed to be merged into a single regulation, the press release said.
In the above context and to address all relevant QoS-related issues in a holistic manner, the Authority is issuing this consultation paper for seeking ‘stakeholders’ comments. Written comments on the consultation paper are invited from the stakeholders latest by 20th September 2023. Counter Comments, if any, may be submitted by October 5, the release said. (ANI)