TRAI’s directive on minimum net speed upsets Airtel, Reliance

TRAI’s directive on ensuring minimum speed of 512 kbps download speed at all times has upset telecoms.

Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Sistema Shyam Teleservices have said that customers cannot be accessing data even after exhausting their packages.

Bharti Airtel, in its submission to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), said it cannot be the prerogative of the customer to keep accessing data at the defined broadband speed even beyond the assigned quota.

"If broadband has to become affordable, the authority should not mandate any broadband speed after exhaustion of (data) quota," said Bharti Airtel.

Reliance Communications also echoed the same sentiments, saying the service provider should have the freedom to throttle speeds.
TRAI had asked broadband operators to ensure download speeds do not drop below 512 kbps in any tariff plan.

The Cellular Operators Association of India and Association of Unified Telecom Service Providers of India (Auspi) also called for an immediate revision of the clause.

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