Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha said that there has been consistent improvement in the performance of telecom service providers in meeting the benchmark for call drop parameters. The minister, while informing the Rajya Sabha, referred to the quarterly performance monitoring reports of September 2015, December 2015, March 2016 and June 2016 available on the Trai website.
The Trai monitors the performance of service providers through quarterly performance monitoring reports. The telecom regulator also regularly undertakes drive tests of mobile networks in select cities, highways and railway routes to assess the quality of service and coverage around various areas and routes. The exercise is conducted for addressing call drop issue.
Sinha also pointed out that telcos have reported installation of 1.20 lakh additional base stations in India between June 15, 2016 and September 30, 2016. Indian telcos also plan to install 1.56 lakh base stations by March 2017, he added.
Over a few quarters, the country’s telecom department and the regulator have been undertaking various steps to resolve the call drop issues. These steps include regular meetings with top executives of service providers to evaluate the performance against action plan for improving call drop scenario.
Sinha said that that ministry has taken several other steps including making available plenty of spectrum resources in different bands for which auction process has recently concluded, wherein the telecom service providers have acquired 965 MHz of airwaves.
The telecom department recently rolled out new rules on installation of mobile towers and laying of optical cables. The move is likely to reduce call drops, rev up broadband speeds and improve service quality for consumers.
