Why TRAI has an issue with priority plans given by Vodafone Idea, Airtel

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has blocked Bharti Airtel’s Platinum and Vodafone Idea’s RedX premium plans that offer faster data speeds and priority services to customers

However, on Friday, the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) stayed the TRAI’s July 11 order to the telecom service providers asking them to stop offering premium and ‘priority on network’ services.

TRAI claims that the plans were violating net neutrality norms. It is said that these services were misleading and that they have not informed the non-priority consumers that you will get slower speed or we are giving better service to people we are charging more.

Read More ...  Why TRAI has an issue with priority plans given by Vodafone Idea, Airtel

TRAI asks Airtel, Vodafone Idea to hold priority plans promising faster speeds

TRAI asks Airtel, Vodafone Idea to hold priority plans promising faster speeds

New Delhi: The telecom regulator has asked Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea to put on hold specific plans that promised faster speeds to certain priority users, as it questioned whether the network preference came at the cost of deterioration of services for other subscribers.

A source said that the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has asked the two operators to withhold the specific plan for the interim period.

The TRAI has written to the two operators, Airtel and Vodafone Idea, and questioned them about their individual plans that promised faster speeds to certain priority users.

The regulator has asked if priority to high-paying customers in those specific plans came at the cost of service deterioration for other subscribers.

It has asked the operators how they are protecting the interest of other general subscribers.

When contacted, an Airtel spokesperson said: “We are passionate about delivering the best network and service experience to all our customers.”

“This is why we have a relentless obsession to eliminate faults and have been consistently recognized by international agencies as the best network in terms of speed, latency, and video experience. At the same time, we want to keep raising the bar for our post-paid customers in terms of service and responsiveness. This is an ongoing effort at our end,” the Airtel spokesperson added.

The Bharti Airtel had announced last Monday that it would give preference to platinum mobile customers, who pay Rs 499 and above per month for postpaid connection, on its 4G network.

The platinum customers will get better 4G speed on the Airtel network compared to other customers.

The TRAI has given Airtel seven days to respond to its questions, a person privy to the development said.

In case of Vodafone Idea, the company had launched a postpaid plan, REDX, promising up to 50 percent faster data speeds, besides other benefits and privileges.

Asked about TRAI’s latest move, a Vodafone Idea spokesperson said: “Vodafone RedX plan offers a range of benefits including unlimited data, calls, premium content, international roaming pack etc., for our valued postpaid customers who want more.”

“VIL is committed to serve its customers with the best in class offerings and high-speed 4G data across all markets. VIL’s fastest 4G speed in many markets, including metros, has been verified by global testing agencies, such as Ookla and OpenSignal amongst others,” the VIL spokesperson said.

Meanwhile, a VIL source, who did not wish to be named, said the company was taken aback at the TRAI’s letter over the weekend asking it to block the plan without any opportunity to respond on an important matter such as tariff.

The company source said that the RedX plan was filed with TRAI in November and further modifications to the plan were, once again, duly filed in May. The plan has been in the market for the last eight months and customers are already on-boarded.

The VIL source said that the company was of the view that there was no violation of tariff regulation on this plan.

Trai not recommending 11-digit mobile numbering plan, says 10-digit numbers to continue

Trai not recommending 11-digit mobile numbering plan, says 10-digit numbers to continue

New Delhi: Telecom regulator Trai on Sunday said it has not recommended 11 digit mobile numbers but only suggested prefixing ‘0’ when mobile numbers are called from landlines.

“The recommendation on prefixing ‘0’ for calls from fixed line to mobile numbers will generate 2,544 million additional numbering resources for mobile services to cater to the future requirements,” it said.

As per Trai recommendation, the country will continue to follow a 10-digit numbering for mobile services, and the regulator has “categorically rejected” shifting to an 11-digit mobile numbering plan.

“Trai has not recommended an 11-digit numbering scheme for mobile services,” the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) said in a statement.

Trai has recommended a dialing prefix ‘0’ while making a call from a fixed-line number to a mobile number, the statement said, adding that introduction of a dialing prefix for a particular type of call “is not akin to increasing the number of digits in the telephone number”.

“This change in dialing pattern will generate 2,544 million additional numbering resources for mobile services to cater to the future requirements,” it added.

The regulator on Friday had said that migration to a unified or single numbering scheme for fixed-line and mobile services is not required for now and that sufficient numbering space can be created by various methods, including prefixing ‘0’ for all fixed to mobile calls.

Trai while releasing its recommendations on “ensuring adequate numbering resources for fixed-line and mobile services” had felt that there needs to be no change in dialing plan for fixed-to-fixed, mobile-to-fixed, and mobile-to-mobile calls.

It has also recommended that a revised and new National Numbering Plan (NNP) should be issued at the earliest and has made suggestions on ways to free up unutilized capacities, to create space for mobile services.

During the course of the consultation, most of the operators had opposed 11-digit numbering for mobile numbers, arguing that an 11-digit numbering scheme would incur massive configuration modifications including software and hardware, involve an additional cost for the players, and cause confusion and inconvenience to the customers.

“The authority is of the opinion that some serious problems are anticipated with a change in the mobile number from 10 digits to 11 digits. This would require widespread modifications in the configuration of switches involving cost. This would also cause inconvenience to the customers in the form of dialing extra digit and updating phone memory. This could lead to more dialing errors, infructuous traffic, and loss of revenue to the operator,” the regulator had explained in its recommendations.