As call drop menace grows, Telecom dept to meet network operators to curb situation

In order to improve the current call drop situation in the country, DoT will meet leading telecom operators this month.

Data consumption has grown by 6 times whereas voice call demands have doubled over the last 12-18 months. (Image: AFP)

New Delhi: In order to improve the current call drop situation in the country, Department of Telecommunication (DoT) will meet the leading telecom operators this month to discuss the issues and explore possible ways to curb the condition. Speaking to reporters, telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan said, “Quality of Service (QoS) is a big concern. We will meet operators this month. Besides, there are other issues such as fibre first on optical fibre, digital readiness, among others, that needs to be discussed.” Sundararajan even met officials from Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India and Idea Cellular earlier in January this year to review the call drop situation. After the meeting, the telecom secretary said that these operators assured that they would invest more than Rs 74,000 crore in FY19 to improve network operations in the country. According to industry experts, the increase in call drops is due to growing demand for data, which is leading to high concurrent usage. Data consumption has grown by 6 times whereas voice call demands have doubled over the last 12-18 months. Currently, India has around 20 lakh BTS and keeping in mind the growing consumer demand it would not be able to meet the requirement, said a Financial Express report. Recently, a report from Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) stated that all telecom operators, except Reliance Jio, failed to meet call drop benchmark in drive test conducted by sector regulator Trai on many different highway and rail routes. It said that independent drive tests through its appointed agency were conducted on eight highways and three rail routes. Either 3G or 2G network of Bharti Airtel, Vodafone Idea and state-run BSNL failed to meet call drop benchmark on four highway routes and all the three railway routes. Reliance Jio name did not appear among companies that failed to meet call drop criteria on both the highway and rail routes.