The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has issued draft recommendations on “Network testing before commercial launch of wireline services.”
Under the draft regulations, the regulator has proposed a 90-day limit for the test period for wireline services which involves trial subscribers. The maximum time limit for network testing provided to the operator should be 180 days.
Further, a telecom service provider (TSP) should be allowed to take on board test subscribers in the trial phase in order to carry out the network testing before commercial launch of services, TRAI said.
However, TRAI has limited the number of test subscribers enrolled by an operator in a circle to 5 per cent of its installed network capacity for that area.
Further, it has suggested the service provider to submit the detailed capacity calculations of the network to Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and TRAI at least 15 days before commencing enrolment of test subscribers.
If the TSP fails to conclude network testing due to valid reasons, it may make a representation to the licensor, seeking additional time for network testing giving detailed justification, which may be decided by the licensor on a case-to-case basis, TRAI said. The requisite norms to be followed for extension of timeline for network testing may be formulated by the licensor.
The TRAI has invited written comments on the draft recommendations by January 30, 2020 and counter-comments by February 13, 2020.
