Airtel replaces Priority Postpaid with Fast Lane plans amid net neutrality concerns

Bharti Airtel on Wednesday (June 10) said it has replaced its Priority Postpaid service, which triggered a net neutrality debate, with the Fast Lane service, extending the promise of faster connectivity to postpaid users.

The company has made changes on the website and replaced the term Airtel Priority with Fast Lane Technology, as well as changed some of the points in the description of the services in terms and conditions.

Airtel had earlier explicitly stated that "Priority service enhances customer experience during periods of network congestion in eligible coverage areas" and "Priority access enhances service experience during network congestion", which has been removed now.

However, the postpaid users will continue to be on the slicing technology that will separate their signal transmission block from that of prepaid and other subscribers.

The new terms and conditions define Fast Lane service as plans that use an upgraded 5G network with advanced capabilities of slicing, marketed as Fast Lane Technology, which makes the network more efficient, for the delivery of an enhanced experience for postpaid customers.

According to an industry expert, the changes may have been made for regulatory compliance and countering the advertisement campaign of

Vodafone Idea, which took a veiled dig at Airtel's Priority Postpaid service across social media platforms, calling subscribers to switch to its network as it gives priority to everyone.

The signals on Airtel postpaid mobile subscribers' phones continue to display plans as Airtel Priority.

When asked if the company has shelved the Priority Postpaid plan, the company spokesperson denied the development but acknowledged rebranding the service as Fast Lane.

"There is no question of withdrawal of our new postpaid plan… Our launch campaign has ended. And our descriptor to signal what we are doing – 'Fast Lane' – captures the essence of what we offer. Our postpaid users continue to remain on a slice. So, every user who chooses our postpaid plan and has a 5G-capable device gets an enhanced experience. Faster speeds, unlimited data, and exceptional service," the spokesperson said.

The company has removed the promise of providing priority access to enhance service experience during network congestion.

The spokesperson said that network slicing used for postpaid service has no impact on the experience for prepaid users, and the data has been transparently shared with the regulator.

Airtel launched Priority Postpaid on May 19, which promises consistent speed even in crowded markets for postpaid customers.

Airtel promises that 5G Priority Postpaid will provide a fast lane for subscribers even during peak traffic by dynamically separating a portion of the network for them from other categories of telecom services.

The launch of these plans with the fast lane facility to high-paying postpaid subscribers has triggered a debate on whether such plans violate the rule of net neutrality. The principles of net neutrality were framed to defend the rights of low-paying customers to have non-discriminatory access to the internet.

A parliamentary committee, on May 26, sought answers from the Department of Telecommunications

(DoT) and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to review the impact of 5G network slicing services in Singapore, the UK and a few other nations.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Communications and Information Technology, headed by BJP leader Nishikant Dubey, noted that the priority postpaid plan of certain telecom operators could compromise the net neutrality of crores of prepaid mobile users.

It asked the DoT and the TRAI to get back with their responses in 25 days, when the panel will meet again.

Bharti Airtel has defended its new Priority Postpaid service before the Parliamentary panel, asserting that the offering, powered by 5G network slicing, neither violates net neutrality norms nor degrades service quality for prepaid users.

In response to a query on the withdrawal of service, an Airtel spokesperson said, "There is no question of withdrawal of our new postpaid plan. To the contrary, we have had a satisfying response to the launch of our new plan backed by 5G slicing technology." The spokesperson said that the company is seeing an improvement in the delivered experience across both prepaid and postpaid users.

"This is primarily because the deployment of our new standalone network has increased network efficiency for all. Our new postpaid plan is available to all customers in a simple, transparent, and ubiquitous way. Using our slicing technology, we are able to offer our postpaid users enhanced speed. While doing this, we also have comprehensive data to show that prepaid users continue to enjoy the very same experience they have had before we launched this technology," the spokesperson said.