TRAI makes it mandatory for telecom service providers to display coverage maps
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has now made it mandatory for mobile carriers in India to display geospatial coverage maps on their websites. The coverage maps should show geographical areas where the company offers wireless voice and broadband services. This mandate is part of TRAI’s revised Quality of Service (QoS) Regulations for telecom operators that were implemented on October 1, 2024.
“Every service provider providing access service (wireless) shall publish on its website the service-wise geospatial coverage maps in such a manner and format, as may be directed by the Authority from time to time, for the geographical areas where wireless voice or wireless broadband service is available for subscription by consumers,” said the TRAI directive.
“Availability of service-wise geospatial coverage map on service provider’s website for percentage of working cells (Benchmark ≥ 99%) with effective from 1st April 2025,” added the directive.
Coverage Map Availability
According to the guidelines, if in any area, coverage technologies like 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G are available, the unified coverage map should show the area with 5G.
“The cell coverage of respective technology (2G/ 3G/ 4G/ 5G) shall be presented on the coverage map in the prescribed colour scheme, having the minimum prescribed signal strength (measured outdoors),” added the directive.
The minimum features that are required to be available for the users should include Map base layer, Technology Toggle, Search, Legend as well as Navigation features.
