New Delhi, Aug. 5 -- Telecom operators may not be able to reserve premium 5G capacity for paying customers if it comes at the expense of everyone else.

With Bharti Airtel rolling out 5G network slicing for postpaid users in India-a technology that creates dedicated, high-speed network lanes-the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has proposed safeguards to ensure standard users do not suffer degraded internet quality.

In draft quality-of-service (QoS) regulations issued on Wednesday, the regulator proposed that if a mobile cell remains more than 80% loaded during its peak busy hour on any five days in a month, telecom operators must take timely steps to increase capacity.

A cell is the local neighbourhood covered by a single a...