For nearly a decade, India’s net neutrality framework has largely focused on one concern: preventing telecom operators from favouring certain websites, apps or online services over others. The debate that shaped India’s internet policy revolved around questions such as whether telecom operators could prioritise one app over another, slow down specific services, or offer differential pricing linked to content.
Airtel’s new Priority Postpaid plans raise a different question altogether: can telecom operators offer a better network experience to one group of subscribers if they are willing to pay for it?
The distinction may seem subtle, but it sits at the heart of the debate surrounding Airtel’s use of 5G network slicing technology. It also helps explain why regulators, telecom operators and policy experts appear to be viewing the issue differently from earlier net neutrality controversies.
What Airtel has actually launched
Bharti Airtel launched its Priority Postpaid plans on May 19. The company says the plans use 5G network slicing technology to offer a more dependable network experience during periods of congestion.
The promise is not necessarily higher internet speeds. Rather, Airtel says customers on these plans will receive greater consistency and reliability even when the network is under stress.
According to the company, the service operates through a dedicated network slice while remaining completely content-neutral.
In submissions to the government, Airtel argued that the implementation involves no blocking, throttling, preferential treatment of applications, or zero-rating. The company also maintained that the service does not degrade the experience of prepaid customers, who account for around 92 per cent of its customer base and contribute roughly 88 per cent of its revenue.
Airtel further stated that its overall 5G capacity utilisation during busy hours is around 38 per cent. Within that, postpaid traffic accounts for only about 4 per cent and may rise to roughly 6 per cent after the priority slice is introduced.
Why this debate is different from earlier net neutrality battles
Much of the discussion around Airtel’s plans has focused on whether they violate net neutrality. The more interesting question is why the answer appears to be different from earlier telecom controversies.
India’s net neutrality debates in the 2010s were largely centred on content discrimination. Regulators were concerned about whether telecom operators could favour certain websites, apps or online services over others.
The concern was whether a telecom operator could slow down one service, prioritise another, or offer differential treatment linked to the content being accessed.
Airtel’s Priority Postpaid plans do not neatly fit into that framework.
The company is not prioritising Netflix over YouTube, or WhatsApp over Telegram. Instead, the differentiation is occurring at the subscriber level.
The debate is no longer about whether different online services are treated differently. It is about whether different categories of users can receive different levels of network experience.
That shift is what makes the Airtel controversy different from previous net neutrality disputes.
Understanding 5G network slicing
To understand why this distinction exists, it is necessary to understand what network slicing actually is.
Network slicing allows telecom operators to create multiple virtual networks on top of the same physical network infrastructure.
A simple way to think about it is through a highway analogy.
Traditionally, all users travelled on the same highway. Traffic conditions could vary, but everyone shared the same road. With network slicing, telecom operators can create multiple virtual lanes on the same highway, each designed for a specific purpose.
One lane may be optimised for reliability, another for low latency, and another for specialised use cases.
According to industry reports, network slicing is a standard capability built into 5G architecture and is already being deployed in markets such as Singapore, the United States, the United Kingdom and Malaysia.
The technology itself is not the source of controversy. The debate begins when that capability is used to create differentiated consumer experiences.
Why TRAI may not view it as a net neutrality violation
Recent reports suggest that India’s telecom regulator is leaning towards the view that Airtel’s plans do not violate existing net neutrality norms.
According to a Business Standard report, TRAI’s examination found that the plans did not appear to degrade the quality of service or experience of prepaid users.
People familiar with the deliberations told the publication that net neutrality concerns generally arise when there is discrimination based on content, which does not appear to be the case here.
Another person cited by the publication said that the rules specify discrimination between customers of the same class, and that no such discrepancy had been identified so far.
The regulator is reportedly continuing to monitor implementation, but the emerging view appears to be that Airtel’s service remains within the boundaries of the current framework.
What India’s net neutrality rules actually say
Understanding the regulatory debate requires looking at the framework itself.
India’s net neutrality regime rests primarily on two foundations.
The first is TRAI’s 2016 Prohibition of Discriminatory Tariffs for Data Services Regulations, which prohibit service providers from charging discriminatory tariffs based on content.
The second is the Department of Telecommunications’ 2018 net neutrality framework, which was subsequently operationalised through amendments to the Unified Licence and ISP licensing framework.
Clause 2.3 of the Unified Licence requires internet access services to follow a principle that restricts discrimination, restriction or interference in the treatment of content. The provision addresses practices such as blocking, degrading, slowing down, or granting preferential treatment to specific content.
The recurring theme across these provisions is content.
The framework was designed to prevent telecom operators from discriminating based on what users access online.
That focus made sense when the biggest concerns involved issues such as zero-rating, content prioritisation and differential treatment of internet services.
The 5G question the framework never explicitly addressed
This is where Airtel’s Priority Postpaid plans have sparked a broader discussion.
The existing framework focuses extensively on content-based discrimination. It says comparatively little about subscriber-tier differentiation that remains content-neutral.
That does not automatically mean Airtel’s implementation violates the framework. In fact, Airtel’s defence rests precisely on the argument that all content, applications and online services continue to be treated equally.
However, network slicing introduces a different dimension to the debate.
The Airtel debate asks whether telecom operators can offer differentiated network experiences to different categories of subscribers while remaining content-neutral.
The distinction may appear technical, but it is central to understanding why regulators, telecom operators and policy observers are debating the issue.
Why the telecom industry is backing network slicing
Airtel’s defence of Priority Postpaid is not surprising.
More notable is the support that the broader concept of network slicing has received from across the telecom ecosystem.
In a letter to the Department of Telecommunications, Reliance Jio described network slicing-based service deployments as a legitimate exercise of 5G capabilities and argued that the existing regulatory framework permits such offerings.
Jio also stated that network slicing is a standardised 5G architectural capability that serves diverse connectivity requirements.
Industry body Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) has similarly argued that slicing does not violate current net neutrality principles because it remains content-agnostic.
Former BSNL chairman Anupam Shrivastava also told ET Telecom that 5G slicing complies with current net neutrality frameworks because it treats applications equally and uses advanced spectrum optimisation.
The broad support is significant because it suggests the discussion extends beyond a single Airtel product.
A significant part of the telecom ecosystem appears to view network slicing as a legitimate 5G capability with long-term commercial potential.
The search for a 5G business model
The telecom industry’s support for network slicing is also linked to a larger commercial challenge.
Historically, telecom operators monetised voice calls, SMS services and data packs. While 5G has brought significant technological improvements, generating new revenue streams from those capabilities has been a persistent challenge.
Network slicing offers a different possibility.
Instead of simply selling larger data packs, operators could potentially offer differentiated levels of network reliability, latency, consistency or congestion protection.
This is one reason Airtel has consistently advocated network slicing as a major monetisation opportunity.
According to Business Standard, the company has described slicing as the only proven large-scale monetisation model for 5G and a foundational capability for future 6G networks.
Viewed through that lens, Priority Postpaid is not simply a new postpaid plan. It may also represent an early attempt to commercialise differentiated network performance as a consumer-facing product.
Are operators monetising congestion?
During a discussion hosted by digital news platform The Federal, telecom analyst Parag Kar argued that regulators must ensure premium users do not receive benefits at the expense of ordinary users.
He also highlighted an important distinction between wireless and fixed broadband networks. Unlike fibre networks, wireless systems operate within finite spectrum constraints, making capacity allocation a more sensitive issue.
Kar raised a broader concern: if network congestion becomes a persistent feature of mobile connectivity, operators may eventually be incentivised to monetise that congestion rather than eliminate it.
Others on the panel argued that the focus should be on ensuring a minimum quality standard for all users.
Tech policy researcher Pranesh Prakash argued that regulators should concentrate on maintaining and enforcing baseline quality-of-service standards rather than prohibiting all forms of service differentiation.
The discussion ultimately points to a broader policy question: if premium services are permitted, what safeguards should exist to ensure that ordinary users are not adversely affected?
What this could mean for consumers
The significance of Airtel’s launch extends beyond a single postpaid plan.
If regulators ultimately conclude that network slicing-based differentiation is fully compliant with existing rules, similar offerings could emerge across the industry.
That does not automatically mean ordinary users will receive worse service.
Airtel has maintained that its implementation does not degrade the experience of prepaid customers, and TRAI’s reported preliminary assessment appears to be moving in the same direction.
However, the emergence of premium network tiers would raise broader questions about how network quality should be priced, monitored and regulated in the 5G era.
For years, India’s net neutrality debate focused on whether telecom operators should be allowed to treat internet traffic differently.
Airtel’s Priority Postpaid plans have introduced a different question: should telecom operators be allowed to offer different levels of network experience to different categories of users?
That question may shape the next phase of India’s telecom policy debate long after the current controversy fades.
