DoT issues orders to share network capacity detail 15 days prior to the commencement of network testing, besides putting a 5 per cent cap on capacity
The Department of Telecom has announced a limit to the enrolment of test subscribers during the trial period of network capacity to 5 per cent and the maximum testing period to six months.
The order states that a licensee enrolling its test subscribers in a licensed service area (LSA or telecom circle) will be restricted to 5 per cent of the installed network capacity. It has also ordered that telecom operators must provide details of network capacity 15 days before the test subscribers enrolment starts.
In its official statement, it said that the network test must be done within 90 days of enrolment and the test period could be extended to 180 days on a case-to-case basis. It added that the subscribers could request the DoT for a maximum extension of 180 days in case of incompletion during the time limit.
Jio issue
Reliance Jio, reportedly, had enrolled customers as its network test subscribers earlier when it started the testing of 4G network. It was able to add around 15 lakh customers before starting its 4G services officially. Major telecom operators had complained about this issue and the DoT order on limiting the network capacity to 5 per cent had come in a bid to solve this.
No subscription fees
DoT’s order has barred telecom providers from charging subscription fees from the subscribers of network testing. It has also laid down the rule to announce the launching of network services prior to its commencement. This order came into effect from October 9 which also said that mobile number portability service could not be accessed during the trial phase.
