On August 5, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) proposed a rule limiting 5G network slicing cells to 80% Physical Resource Block (PRB) utilization, aiming to protect ordinary users. If a cell crosses this threshold five times a month, telcos must augment capacity or remove the cell from slicing services, according to medianama.com.
Parag Kar, former Qualcomm Vice President for Government Affairs (India and South Asia), explained that the 80% limit is a congestion alarm rather than a fairness measure. He noted that PRBs indicate how a 5G base station uses capacity, and restricting usage at 80% could lead operators to throttle network performance rather than improve it. Kar warned that this approach might ultimately harm the users it intends to protect.
The rule intends to ensure quality of service by preventing network congestion in sliced applications. However, experts argue that the 80% threshold could backfire by prompting telcos to limit network capacity artificially. This could reduce overall network efficiency and degrade user experience, especially as 5G slicing becomes more prevalent in managing diverse applications across telecom networks.
TRAI’s consultation paper sets a precedent for regulating 5G network slicing capacity, with the next steps involving industry feedback and potential amendments. The authority will monitor busy-hour traffic to enforce the rule, with the goal of balancing network performance and user protection.