It looks like Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will free telecom operators from the blame of call drops, citing reasons like radiation fears and local laws, which force them to take down the towers resulting in poor quality, reports Economic Times (ET).
According to the recent Drive Test result released by TRAI, Delhi had lost 523 sites and Mumbai had lost 801 sites in six months due to the fear of people about radiation fear. "How can we blame telecom operators for these? Sealing of one site can affect about four neighboring sites, leading to rising incidence of call drops," a senior TRAI official told ET.
Further in TRAI’s report, although the regulator said that ‘most telecom operators do not comply with the QoS benchmark for call drops’, it has added another statement that reads, "They failed to achieve the benchmarks due to high block call rate, high drop call rate, low call setup success rate and poor quality’. TRAI found the reason for the call quality deterioration as ‘the inability of telecom operators to proportionately increase the number of telecom towers.’ Such cited reasons are clear indication of TRAI’s take on the issue.
Although TRAI was asked by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) to devise penalties for the operators on call drops, TRAI is more likely to put up a consultation paper seeking ways to improve the quality of services. Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has repeatedly demanded telecom operators to 'walk extra mile' to enhance service. The DoT even asked the operators to file the report on the issue by 31 July.
"We are discussing ways the operators can optimize their networks but there is only so much they can do," the official said ET.
