The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ("TRAI") has recently issued Guidelines http://www.trai.gov.in/WriteReadData/trai/upload/misc/102/Guidelines2mar09.pdf to all service providers namely Internet Service Providers ("ISPs"), Unified Access Service Providers, Cellular Mobile Service Providers, Basic Service Providers providing Internet/ broadband for ensuring better quality of service ("2009 Guidelines").
Earlier the Government of India had issued a Broadband Policy in October 2004 for fixation of quality of services standard for Broadband Services in India. Subsequently TRAI brought out the "Quality of Service of Broadband Services Regulations 2006" that came into effect from January 1, 2007 ("2006 Regulations").
The 2006 Regulations prescribed specific benchmarks for several parameters such as packet loss, latency in the network, bandwidth utilization and connection speed. It also covered parameters for speed of connection and bandwidth utilization. The 2006 Regulations also required the service providers to monitor their network and take actions to maintain the quality of service as set out by the TRAI. It however did not stipulate anything on contention ratio (i.e., the number of users competing for the same internet bandwidth).
After receiving many complaints from subscribers regarding lower broadband speed than the subscribed speed, TRAI had suo moto issued a consultation paper on "Bandwidth required for ISPs for better connectivity and improved quality of service". TRAI, after considering responses from various sectors of the society on said consultation paper, decided to specify contention ratio for all service providers providing internet or broadband facility.
The Internet Service Providers Association of India ("ISPAI") said that the new standard of contention ratio will increase the cost of services. ISPAI has urged TRAI to delay the enforcement of new standard of contention ratio by 2-3 years.
The salient features of the guidelines are:
- To provide adequate information to subscribers regarding Internet/broadband services being offered and marketed as a good business practice.
- To provide information regarding contention ratios adopted for different services by service providers in their tariff plans submitted to TRAI, manual of practice, call centers and on their websites.
- To publish contention ratio for different Internet/broadband services on their website periodically to facilitate subscribers to take decisions.
- To ensure availability of minimum required bandwidth in their network according to maximum contention ratio suggested by TRAI for different services based on number of subscribers.
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