TRAI Mulling Directive For 5G Coverage Map On Telcos Sites

Even when telecom operators claim 5G rollouts across the nation, smartphone users could still see 4G indicators on their devices, so to address this issue the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is reportedly considering a directive to display coverage maps on websites for consumers to know 5G and 4G availability.

The telecom regulator is currently focusing on 4G and 5G technologies in terms of network availability, as 2G and 3G are expected to become obsolete shortly.

“Consumers don’t know about the coverage of service providers. There are some areas where there is no connectivity, even in cities. As consumers, people have the right to know about the coverage of a telco and the firms must display it on their website,” ET reported, citing people close to the matter.

Besides, TRAI also wants the telcos to immediately inform if any of the currently installed 5G towers are down. It also stated instances of call muting were noticed in case of packet loss which are reported as call drop as no choice is left with the customers other than hanging up.

To increase such checks and balances on the telecom operators, the regulatory body is considering whether financial penalties should be increased to improve quality of service requirements at state and district levels.

Currently, the quality of service (QoS) is measured at network circle level due to which when even a few sites remain down, outages go missed because the data is averaged out.

However, the telecom industry is opposing TRAI’s plans to measure data separately at state and district levels. The companies feel sharing data state-wise would be difficult because different licensed service areas fall under separate jurisdictions.

Last year, in September, the telecom regulator issued a consultation paper inviting industry feedback on challenges hindering the rapid adoption of 5G technologies for businesses. Back then, it stated that the move was aimed at accelerating the integration of technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), extended reality, and the Internet of Things (IoT) to foster automation across various sectors.