Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone-Idea ‘unhappy’ with Trai’s new QoS rules; say overlook ground realities

The telecom industry has raised concerns over stringent new quality of service (QoS) norms introduced by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai). The Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), representing major telecom players — Reliance Jio, Airtel and Vodafone-Idea — argues that the regulations impose excessive burdens without addressing the challenges operators face on the ground.
The new rules mandate stricter service quality benchmarks, increased penalties for non-compliance, and more frequent reporting requirements. Telecom operators must now compensate subscribers for outages exceeding 24 hours at the district level and face penalties of up to Rs 10 lakh for violations.
However, COAI contends that these measures are impractical given ongoing hurdles such as right-of-way (RoW) issues for infrastructure deployment, interference from unauthorized devices, and theft of equipment. The industry body also highlights the impact of frequent fiber cuts and the additional demands of 5G network rollout. Despite these challenges, telecom operators have consistently met Trai’s QoS benchmarks, according to COAI. The industry is seeking a more realistic approach that acknowledges the operational difficulties and avoids placing undue financial pressure on operators.
COAI statement
COAI’s member Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) have consistently invested in enhancing Quality of Service (QoS) through significant improvements in network infrastructure, resulting in greater stability and reliability. The industry has embraced advanced technologies and automation tools, including predictive maintenance and AI-driven analytics, to proactively address network issues. Moreover, major initiatives are underway to fiberize towers across India, which is a crucial step for the efficient deployment of 5G services.
While TRAI has tightened the QoS benchmarks over the years, the ground realities remain unchanged. TSPs still grapple with Right of Way (RoW) issues when acquiring permissions for infrastructure deployment in public and private land for the installation of cell towers and fiber-optic cables. The situation is further aggravated due to additional requirement of street furniture for the 5G networks. Moreover, interference from various sources, such as other wireless devices and electromagnetic interference, degrade signal quality and network performance. Further, illegal boosters and repeaters used by unauthorised agents, as well as the cases of theft of equipment are also external factors which, nevertheless, impact the QoS. Besides, frequent takedown of the overhead fiber by the authorities have a significant impact in QoS as well. TSPs have limited control over these external sources which adversely impact the Quality of Services.
Despite these challenges, TSPs have consistently met TRAI’s QoS benchmarks. The industry expresses concern over the proposed regulations, which not only tighten benchmarks but also shift from quarterly to monthly reporting and site to cell level reporting in many cases. In fact, the QoS parameters prescribed in the new Regulations have not been introduced by any other regulator in other similar economies. These changes are expected to significantly increase the compliance as well as the cost burden on telecom operators, and without commensurate benefits for the customers.
While we are disappointed with the stringency of these new regulations, we remain committed to engaging constructively with TRAI on QoS-related matters. Our member organizations will continue to strive for excellence in service quality while advocating for regulations that recognize the practical challenges faced by our industry.

What are the new QoS rules

Trai has issued new quality of service (QoS) rules, making it mandatory for telecom operators to compensate subscribers in case of service outages for more than 24 hours at a district level. Trai has also increased the penal amount to Rs 1 lakh from Rs 50,000 for failing to meet each quality benchmark under the new rules.
The telecom regulator has introduced a graded penalty system of Rs 1 lakh, Rs 2 lakh, Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh for different scales of rule violations and submitting false report under revised regulations — “The Standards of Quality of Service of Access (Wirelines and Wireless) and Broadband (Wireline and Wireless) Service Regulations, 2024”.
Trai has provided a six-month grace period for operators to align their systems with the new regulations.