Trai sends further queries to Voda idea, Airtel on premium plans

Kolkata: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has questioned Vodafone Idea and Bharti Airtel on discrepancy between their stated historical position on differential data speeds and actual offerings under RedX and Platinum plans, respectively.

Trai pointed out that Vodafone Idea’s RedX plan and Airtel’s Platinum plan provide priority on network and also commit higher speeds, when both have claimed that they are not offering differential broadband speeds under any wireless plan in their past submissions to the regulator.

In separate letters to the telcos dated July 31, Trai has asked the companies why they did not flag their respective new plans as “new types of services”, which would have prompted the regulator to examine them under a different lens before approving their launch in the market.

“As per information available in Trai as filed by you, no wireless plan is committing any differential broadband speed”, the regulator said in its letters to both telcos, but pointed out that the RedX and Platinum plans “are not only providing priority on network but also committing higher speed”. ET has reviewed these letters.

Trai said it should have been informed about these offers so that different aspects could have been examined before approving their launch.

The regulator is examining whether the mix of faster data speeds and network priority access services offered on RedX and Platinum degrades services quality of VIL and Airtel users not on these offers.

Trai has asked both telcos if they are “controlling maximum throughput (data speeds) in their respective networks” for each subscriber for user services such as video streaming, conversational video and FTP (file transfer protocols). It has also sought clarity on what happens during network congestion when non-priority VIL/Airtel customers are surrounded by priority customers.