Telecom Authority of India Limited (TRAI) on Tuesday has issued a draft recommendation on network testing before the commercial launch of services for wireline access services.
TRAI has said in the draft recommendation that a telecom service provider should be allowed to enroll test subscribers in the testing phase to carry out the network testing before the commercial launch of its services.
The authority recommends, “There should be no restriction on the time-limit if the network testing is conducted using wireline telephone test connections given to employees and business partners for test purpose only.”
The number of test subscribers that a telecom service provider can enroll in a licensed service area is limited to 5 percent of its installed network capacity. The service provider is required to submit the detailed capacity calculations of the network to DoT and TRAI at least 15 days before starting the enrolment of test subscribers.
The authority has limited the test phase to 90 days, which also includes the test subscribers. However, if the telecom service provider 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 case to case basis.
The mandatory rules are to be followed for extension of the timeline for network testing that may be created by the licensor. The total period for network testing provided to the telecom service provider should not exceed 180 days.
The written comments on the draft recommendations should be presented by January 30, 2020, and counter-comments by February 13, 2020. Comments and counter-comments will be available on the TRAI website.
