Priority postpaid 5G plans: Bharti Airtel uses network slicing for faster service at peak times

Bharti Airtel said it has rolled out Priority Postpaid 5G plans that aim to keep service stable during busy network periods. Airtel said it reserves a dedicated part of the 5G network for these users. The company said this separates postpaid customers from other service categories. Airtel announced the move on Tuesday.

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Airtel said the new plans use network slicing, which splits network resources into separate segments. The company said this makes the network more efficient and adds capacity. Airtel also said it can direct this capacity to specific users. It said the approach is meant to improve reliability for priority postpaid customers.

Priority Postpaid 5G plans use network slicing technology

"Priority Postpaid is our latest innovation powered by the 5G slicing technology. It provides a superior, more reliable, and dependable experience to our customers, whether they are attending a client call in traffic, or streaming at a packed concert, or booking a cab in a crowded market,\" Airtel India MD and CEO Shashwat Sharma said in a statement.

A person, on condition of anonymity, said telecom operators in India already run different services on 5G networks. The person said these include fixed wireless broadband and mobile offerings. The person added that slicing helps support such parallel services. The person said Airtel has now used slicing to separate postpaid services too.

The person said the separation gives postpaid subscribers Priority on 5G with fastlane technology. Airtel said it achieves this by dynamically segmenting capacity. The company said this keeps performance steady even when demand rises. Airtel said the result is a dependable experience for postpaid customers during peak traffic.

Priority Postpaid 5G plans pricing, bundles and app access

Airtel said the Priority Postpaid plans are priced from Rs 499 to Rs 1,749, excluding GST. The company said the plans include bundled apps based on subscription tiers. Airtel listed Amazon Prime, Apple TV, and Netflix as part of these bundles. Airtel also said the Rs 699 plan includes the entertainment app Jio Hotstar.

Airtel said slicing-based 5G services have already launched in several markets. The company named the US, Singapore, the United Kingdom and Malaysia. Airtel’s statement linked these deployments to the same slicing approach. The company positioned the India rollout as part of that wider trend.

Priority Postpaid 5G plans and net neutrality questions

Net neutrality rules currently allow high-speed mobile services for retail subscribers. The rule also requires that internet content or services are not treated differently. \"As per my understanding of current Net Neutrality regulations, creating plans with higher speeds does not violate Net Neutrality, as long as you dont prioritise speeds for specific apps, or price access to different apps differently. Its important for Trai to look into this because this rollout should not lead to the degradation of experience for other customers of Airtel,\" Medianama founder Nikhil Pahwa said.

Airtel said the priority plans are designed to improve performance for postpaid users at crowded locations. The company said the dedicated slice helps maintain service when network load is high. The rollout also raised questions on how speed-based tiers fit with net neutrality rules. Airtel’s announcement described the plans as a network management change using slicing.

With inputs from PTI