Trai releases a consultation paper for feedback on network testing before the commercial launch

The Indian telecom regulator on Monday floated a consultation paper seeking stakeholders' view on network testing before the commercial launch of services. Written comments on the consultation paper are invited from the stakeholders by May 29, 2017 and counter-comments by June 12, 2017, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said."DoT (Department of Telecom) requested the Authority to provide its recommendations on testing of network before commercial launch of services including enrolment of customers for testing purposes before commercial launch, duration of testing period etc. under the terms of clause 11(1)(a) of TRAI Act 1997 as amended," the recommendation said. The paper stated that "there seems to be a need to lay down guidelines for testing of network, systems and the processes so that these can be made applicable to any new licensee."The paper has asked stakeholders: "Should a TSP (telecom service providers) be allowed to enroll subscribers as test users and in such case, should there be any restrictions on the number of test SIM cards and the period of such use." The existing license terms and conditions do not prescribe any time period for the test phase, that is, beyond which, a TSP should start providing commercial services. It also asked stakeholders: "Is there a need to have a defined timeline for testing phase i.e. period beyond which a TSP should start offering commercial services."