science

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Telecom Regulatory Authority of India rather than just read about it. In short: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is a regulatory body set up by the Government of India under section 3 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997. It is the regulator of the telecommunications sector in India.

Key takeaways

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Telecom Regulatory Authority of India to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is a regulatory body set up by the Government of India under section 3 of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997. It is the regulator of the telecommunications sector in India. It consists of a chairperson and not more than two full-time members and not more than two part-time members. The TRAI Act was amended by an ordinance, effective from 24 January 2000, establishing a Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal to take over the adjudicatory and disputes functions from TRAI.

History Telecom Regulatory Authority of India was established on 20 February 1997 by an Act of Parliament to regulate telecom services and tariffs in India. Before this, regulation of telecom services and tariffs was overseen by the Central Government. TRAI's mission is to create and nurture conditions for the growth of telecommunications in India to enable the country to have a leading role in the emerging global information society. One of its main objectives is to provide a fair and transparent environment that promotes a level playing field and facilitates fair competition in the market. TRAI regularly issues orders and directions on various subjects such as tariffs, interconnections, quality of service, direct to home services and mobile number portability. In January 2016, TRAI introduced an important change in telecommunication to the benefit of consumers, where they would be compensated ₹1 (equivalent to ₹1.00 or 1.0¢ US in 2023) for every dropped call, subject to a maximum of three dropped calls in a day. In May 2016, this regulation was revoked by the Supreme Court on the grounds of being "unreasonable, arbitrary and unconstitutional".

Secretariat TRAI is administered through a secretariat headed by a secretary. All proposals are processed by the secretary, who organises the agenda for authority meetings (consulting with the chairperson), prepares the minutes and issues regulations in accordance to the meetings. The secretary is assisted by advisors. These include Mobile Network, Interconnection and FixeNetwork, BroadBand and Policy Analysis, Quality of Service, Broadcasting & Cable Services, Economic Regulation, Financial Analysis & IFA, Legal, Consumer Affairs & International Relation and Administration & Personnel. Officers are selected from the Indian Telecommunications Service and the Indian Administrative Service (IAS).

List of Chairpersons (Telecom Regulatory Authority of India) List of Chairpersons:

TRAI Mobile Apps On 6 June 2017, TRAI launched three new apps and a web portal to highlight the telecom services that are being offered to the users. The Mycall, MySpeed, and Do Not Disturb (DND 2.0) apps can be used to ensure that there is transparency between what consumers are paying for and what telecom operators are promising to provide at a certain rate. In December 2018, TRAI released another app called TRAI Channel Selector. Using this app, they can add, remove and manage their channels.

Recent TRAI initiatives In order to increase broadband penetration in India, TRAI has proposed WANI (Wi-Fi Access Network Interface) architecture. If implemented, it may lead to set up of Public Data Offices (PDOs) where Wi-FI Internet would be available on demand. TRAI relates the same with PCOs which were used to do the voice calls and were very popular hotspots before the mobile phones or home landlines became the ultimate mode of communication.

TRAI reports To increase transparency and give a data-based overview of Indian Telecom Industry at regular intervals, TRAI publishes multiple reports under Release/Publication "Reports" section on its website.

Controversies and Criticism

Jio The TRAI has been accused of bending its rules multiple times to let Jio, a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited, become a market leader in the span of a few years. Jio was allowed to "test" its services for a much longer period and with a much larger subscriber base than was the industrial norm. In a letter to the telecom department, Rajan Mathews of the Cellular Operators Association of India wrote that Reliance's offers were "full-blown and full-fledged services masquerading as tests, which bypass regulations and can potentially game policy features." TRAI was also accused of modifying its definition of "significant market power" so as to exclude Jio from strict scrutiny. Whilst initially the definition of market power was based on total network activity, the parameters were changed to subscriber share and gross revenue. Jio qualified as a significant market power according to the first definition, but not the second.

Airport Wi-fi Access Regulations The TRAI has been criticized for making Wi-Fi difficult to access at airports across India. As per several TRAI officials, Wi-Fi access across airports, that requires a pin through phone numbers, has been cited due to security reasons and KYC (know your customer) requirements, and limited accessibility for 45 minutes. The system has been slammed by several domestic and international travelers due to inconvenience to international passengers, limited timeframe to use and complicated access. Despite criticism and negative reviews posted by travelers on Skytrax and Tripadvisor, the TRAI and Airports Authority of India have consistently refused to change the rules and justified citing security, which have affected ratings of both domestic and international airports across the country when compared to other nations.

See also Telecommunications in India The Telecom Commercial Communication Customer Preference Regulations, 2010 TRAI Sim closure fraud

References

External links Media related to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India at Wikimedia Commons Official website

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Telecom Regulatory Authority of India claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Telecom Regulatory Authority of India before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Telecom Regulatory Authority of India ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

In research: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1997 establishments in India, Government agencies established in 1997, Government agencies of India, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Telecom Regulatory Authority of India outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Telecom Regulatory Authority of India means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
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Frequently asked questions

What is Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in simple terms?

Why does Telecom Regulatory Authority of India matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Telecom Regulatory Authority of India?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.