New Delhi, May 26 (PTI) A parliamentary committee on Tuesday sought answers from the Department of Telecommunications and the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India 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 post-paid plan of certain telecom operators could compromise net neutrality of crores of pre-paid mobile users.
It asked the DoT and the TRAI to get back their responses in 25 days when the panel will meet again, parliamentary sources told PTI.
The members of the committee were learnt to be of the view that major digital and social media platforms, including Meta, X, Google and Amazon, should also be called to make their stand clear on net neutrality and preferential treatment for certain categories of customers.
A member of the committee, after the meeting, said that while only 10 per cent mobile users are in the post-paid category, a majority 90 per cent avail pre-paid services.
The agenda of the meeting was to review 'Quality of Service (QoS) Standards and Consumer Protection in Telecom Sector' with special focus on net neutrality relating to the Department of Telecommunications.
Some members claim that there was no definition of "special services" and certain telecom operators were allegedly "exploiting loopholes" to their benefit.
These discussions have gained momentum following the launch of the Airtel Priority Postpaid, marking India's first commercial 5G network-slicing service for consumers.
Airtel informed users that this technology, already active in several Western countries, enables them to deliver superior network performance exclusively to their premium postpaid subscribers.
However, the initiative has raised concerns that telecom companies might introduce tiered quality of service for specific user groups, which could threaten the core principles of net neutrality, the sources said. PTI NAB ACB DTNAB KSS
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