SynopsisBharti Airtel's new priority 5G service for postpaid customers is causing a stir. Rivals Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio are calling for regulatory review. Authorities are examining if the plan adheres to net neutrality rules. The focus is on ensuring prepaid users do not experience degraded service. This development follows a past ban on similar plans.Listen to this article in summarized formatReutersTelecom industry divided on Airtel's 5G priority plan; Jio, Vi call for regulatory clarityNew Delhi: The telecom industry stands divided over Bharti Airtel’ priority plan, wherein the country’s second largest telco is offering priority service to post-paid consumers by using the 5G network slicing technology.People aware of the details told ET that while Airtel has reiterated that its priority plan complies with net neutrality rules, Vodafone Idea said that such plans should be put on hold till there is regulatory clarity and that the authorities should undertake consultation on the matter.Reliance Jio, while explaining network slicing, said it is a legitimate exercise of 5G technology, but the launch of such products (Airtel priority plan) should be done in concurrence with and after consultation with the telecom department. It is up to the authorities to ensure compliance with licence conditions and net neutrality regulations so that general internet access service available to normal users is not degraded in quality or curtailed in availability and no content-based differential charging is applied, it said, according to the people.Also read: Telecom subscriber base grows to 133.7 cr in April, Airtel stays on top: Trai dataThe companies expressed their views in submissions made following a directive by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and a Parliamentary Standing Committee headed by BJP MP Nishikant Dubey. The submissions were not made public by the companies.Jio is believed to have also said if required, the authorities should examine the technical arrangements, network configuration parameters and quality of service thresholds to check compliance.Queries sent to Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio remained unanswered at the time of going to press Tuesday.DoT and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) are checking whether the priority plan complies with net neutrality rules and are seeking to ensure that prepaid consumers don’t face any deterioration in service quality due to the priority given to post-paid users.ET BureauPlan, using 5G network slicing, complies with neutrality rules: Airtel; Vi seeks regulatory clarityAirtel is believed to have told the authorities that its 5G network currently operates at only 38% capacity, with post-paid customers accounting for just 4% of this usage. “This means the network has extensive headroom to support enhanced experiences for all users—prepaid and post-paid alike—without any degradation,” said a person privy to Airtel’s submission.However, some experts feel that when the traffic increases, prepaid users may face service degradation as a certain slice of the network pipe has been exclusively reserved for post-paid consumers, who are getting priority over prepaid consumers.Authorities in 2020 had banned similar plans by Airtel and Vodafone Idea to offer superior service to post-paid consumers on a 4G network. While slicing of the network was not possible in 4G, in case of 5G, it can be done.Also read: Airtel’s new priority plan under govt lensWhile technology keeps evolving, the fundamental principle of non-discrimination of consumers remains the same, officials told ET. “In case of Airtel’s plan, it seems discriminatory to prepaid consumers while post-paid consumers don’t know what premium they are getting as details are not specified,” said a person privy to the discussions.The government is not very happy with the way Airtel has been nudging consumers to migrate to post-paid in order to get better service, according to officials.In a communication to consumers regarding the priority plan, Airtel India managing director and CEO Shashwat Sharma said all post-paid users would benefit automatically, and prepaid users can upgrade their plan to post-paid to avail themselves of the service.“Nearly 95% of people are on prepaid and they too need good service. They should not be forced to migrate to avail better services,” said an official.Read More News on...moreless