tech2 News Staff

Following complaints from consumers on poor broadband speeds over mobile internet networks, Trai has issued a consultation paper exploring the option of making telecom service providers specify a minimum broadband speed for internet access on mobile devices. Trai has noticed a gap between what speeds the technologies could theoretically deliver, and what the consumers were experiencing practically. Telecom service providers had retaliated that it was impossible to assure consumers of a minimum speed, because of the way mobile broadband works.

Now, Trai wants to hold telecom service providers accountable for the quality of service they provide to consumers, only through a different metric. Instead of assuring a minimum speed, service providers will be required to assure an average speed. Trai has recently launched the MySpeed application that allows consumers to send information about the quality of a mobile internet connection directly to Trai. Although the application aggregates speed information for service providers in various locations, the send to Trai button in the app is not a direct complaint against the quality of service offered by the service provider.

Reports predict that average mobile data consumption in India will increase by over five times to 7GB per month by 2021. Trai will issue a consultation paper to begin the process of regulating the average speed provided by mobile broadband service providers, within a month according to a report in the Economic Times.