Bharti Airtel Limited (BAL) has submitted counter-comments to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) arguing that 5G network slicing should be regulated differently from ordinary quality-of-service (QoS) differentiation. The submission, dated September 15, responds to TRAI’s 2024 QoS regulations consultation and opposes treating network slicing as a technology-neutral QoS feature applicable to 4G, 5G, and future networks, according to medianama.com.
Airtel’s comments emphasize that network slicing is a unique 5G architectural capability that involves creating and managing logical network instances over shared infrastructure with defined service, resource, and performance parameters. The company rejects the idea that slicing is simply a commercial label for differentiated speeds or tariff tiers. Airtel also opposed TRAI’s proposal requiring a 21-day advance notice before creating new network slices, highlighting the need for operational flexibility.
The submission contrasts with positions from Reliance Jio and GSMA, which have advocated for more flexible QoS differentiation across 4G, 5G, and future technologies, including enterprise and application-specific services. Airtel’s stance underscores the technical distinctiveness of 5G slicing and calls for regulatory recognition of this difference to avoid conflating it with traditional QoS measures. This debate is part of broader regulatory efforts to define service quality frameworks for emerging 5G capabilities in India.
TRAI’s consultation on amendments to the 2024 QoS regulations is ongoing, with multiple stakeholders providing feedback. Airtel’s detailed counter-comments were submitted on September 15, marking a key input in the regulatory process shaping 5G service quality rules in India.