The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Sunday said the new quality of services (QoS) rules notified by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will increase compliance and cost burdens for telecom operators without benefiting consumers.
COAI, which represents major telecom operators, expressed disappointment with TRAI’s new norms, citing challenges related to right of way (RoW) norms and equipment theft.
“The industry expresses concern over the proposed regulations, which not only tighten benchmarks but also shift from quarterly to monthly reporting and site to cell level reporting in many cases,” said SP Kochhar, director general of COAI, in a statement.
“In fact, the QoS parameters prescribed in the new regulations have not been introduced by any other regulator in similar economies,” Kochhar added.
According to Kochhar, telecom operators still grapple with RoW issues when acquiring permissions for infrastructure deployment on public and private land for the installation of cell towers and fiber-optic cables. The situation is further aggravated by the additional requirement of street furniture for 5G networks, he said.
Telecom companies report that interference from various sources, such as other wireless devices and electromagnetic interference, degrades signal quality and network performance. The use of illegal boosters and repeaters by unauthorised agents, as well as equipment theft, also negatively impact QoS, the association said.
Additionally, the frequent removal of overhead fiber by authorities significantly impacts QoS. Telecom operators have limited control over these external factors that adversely affect service quality, they said.
Trai on Friday introduced new QoS norms for better network performance and transparency, effective from October 1. Penalties for non-compliance with each QoS benchmark start at `1 lakh. For a second offense, the fine will increase to a maximum of `2 lakh, and for subsequent offenses, it will be `3 lakh per benchmark.
The regulator has also introduced a graded penalty system with fines of `1 lakh, `2 lakh, `5 lakh, and `10 lakh, depending on the scale of the violation.
As part of the new norms, Trai has mandated service providers to display technology-specific (2G/3G/4G/5G) mobile coverage maps on their websites to enable consumers to make informed decisions.
Additionally, to enhance transparency in QoS performance reporting, service providers are required to publish QoS performance against prescribed parameters on their websites.
