Call drop is a problem which has been a cause for great concern for both the government and the telecos. If the problems remained unsolved, it may mar the progress of digital India.
India has seen colossal development and dynamism in the Indian Telecommunication sector. However, with data use on the ascent, the congestion is getting from terrible to more regrettable. India has the most congested telecom systems in the world. The Department of Telecom (DoT) under Ministry of Communication & Information Technology is responsible for spectrum administration and to regulate telecommunication services. DoT established Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in 1997 to promote the interest of service companies and their customers and to ensure orderly development of the telecom industry in India. DoT allocates frequency and is also in charge of monitoring the wireless transmission of all users in the nation and implementing wireless regulatory measures.
In the previous one year, customers have been raising the issue of call drops, persistently complaining that their experience of making voice calls is appalling. TRAI, in June-July, 2015, conducted special drive-tests on specific routes of Mumbai and Delhi to assess the situation. It was found that Call Drop Rate of the majority of the TSPs was higher than the benchmark of <=2%.
As per the Regulation Act, 2009, every cellular mobile service provider is required to meet the Quality of Service (Qos) benchmark for cellular mobile telephone service which includes Call Drop Rate ≤ 2% in one month. The provision also further directs the service provider to measure the service coverage through drive tests of the cellular mobile telephone network at periodic intervals and take remedial action to address problems related to coverage including interference, call drop and voice quality revealed during such drive tests; and maintain the records of such drive tests and the action taken on the problems related to coverage including interference, call drop and voice quality revealed during such drive tests(Sec 6(3)(a) of the Regulation, 2009). The service provider can, suo motu, take all remedial action to rectify shortcomings or deficiencies, if any, detected during the joint drive tests referred in the Regulation (Sec 6(5)(a) of the Regulation, 2009).
Any non-compliance with the QoS laid down by TRAI amounts to violation of the Regulation, 2009. For such violation of the regulations, the TRAI is empowered to take penal action against the service provider(Section 29, 30 and 34, TRAI Act, 1997). As per the licence conditions, the service providers have to meet the QoS standards laid down by TRAI or the licensor and any failure to meet the benchmarks laid down by TRAI for the various QoS parameters amounts to violation of licence conditions giving DoT power to impose penalty. The new 2015 regulation imposes the liability to pay an amount of rupees one lakh for the first contravention reported by the service provider in its Quarterly Report, in case the Service Provider fails to meet the requirement set by the Act. Further in case where the service provider fails to meet the benchmark in two or more subsequent quarters, it shall be liable to pay an amount of rupees one lakh fifty thousand for the second consecutive contravention which shall not exceed the amount of rupee two lakhs for each consecutive contravention occurring thereafter. Another regulation issued in October, 2015 provides relief to the customers in case of call drops. In such a case, the service provider needs to credit the account of the calling consumer by one rupee but it is limited to three dropped calls in a day.
Amidst rising instances of call drops, sector regulator TRAI has proposed that service providers should compensate mobile subscribers for call drops and poor Quality of Services (QoS). The improvement proposal of TRAI makes it a mandatory not to charge the customer if the call gets dropped within five seconds. Another recommendation provides for compensation in two ways. One, by giving free minutes to the customers in case of a call drop. The other way is by providing credit to their accounts, in case of prepaid users and in case of postpaid accounts; bills must be reduced by that amount. However, considering the methods of compensation, employing technology to find out the reason behind the interrupted call, and prospective disputes arising among the service providers and their customers, it is difficult to implement such recommendations. Also, the latest regulations are only focused on providing compensation and not eradicating the problem from its roots. Consumers have a right to be compensated but at the same time, they also have a right to have a smooth connectivity and not face the problems over and over again.
Calls get dropped or blocked if there is too little spectrum for the number of subscribers, as calls surpass the conveying limit of the spectrum. Users get great gathering when they are close to towers, however in the event that different towers are excessively close, obstruction from signals from those towers can decrease the availability of accessible range, and gathering may additionally be boisterous. A feeble association with a far off tower results in poor gathering.
The auction of has been a issue spectrum for which the government has been guided not by the need to decongest systems rather by the income potential outcomes. Apart from deficient spectrum, the other component that has compounded the quality of telecom services is the failure of service operators to set up towers. The fear of harmful radiation, which has been debated by most researchers and by public health authorities, for example, the American Cancer Society, is the reason why the individuals are hesitant to let towers come up in their neighborhood. Therefore, the service operators find it difficult to erect towers. In such a situation, service quality is sure to endure decline. On the positive side, the Information Technology Department of the Kerala Government has passed an order to install mobile towers on government’s land and buildings in the state to ensure better network connectivity. In the light of this policy, DoT is expected to approach the Union Urban Development Ministry to permit telecom companies to set up towers in all central government buildings in metros and state capitals. That may address the tower issue, however just partially.
The major defense taken by the Service Provider is of shortage of spectrum. The Government, finally, keeping in mind such bottlenecks, approved the Spectrum sharing and trading policy. Vesting the right to ownership in the hands of Government, the Cabinet has approved to provide right to trade between two service providers. The Cabinet has cleared spectrum trading guidelines under which telecom firms will have the capacity to sell radiowaves to other service providers. This will help to address the issue of spectrum deficiency.
Prior to these guidelines only government was permitted to allocate spectrum to telecom companies through auctions. This move is relied upon to build proficient utilization of radiowaves by empowering telecoms, which have a low subscriber base or underutilized spectrum lying with them, to exchange radiowaves. Telecoms will have to intimate the government 45 days before the transaction and will have to pay 1% of the transaction sum as trading fee. It has likewise suggested a lock-in time of 2 years on spectrum that a company procures through auction or exchanging before it can trade it further.
Trading allows operators to sell the unutilized airwaves, offering an exit route for struggling operators. Through sharing, operators can pool in their spectrum resources to create a larger bank and each partner can use the airwaves from the pool as per its needs. Sharing of spectrum could allow operators to cut down on capital expenditure; they could pass on the benefit to subscribers through lower tariffs. For consumers, this could mean better quality of voice services and faster data speeds, as sharing could reduce traffic congestion on the network. In addition, the spectrum pooling builds range effectiveness for both operators, as ability to convey telecom movement is not in direct extent to the total of their range holding, however is much bigger than the activity’s entirety limits of individual service providers. TRAI has observed that pick up in spectral efficiency increments non-linearly with the quantum of range. This encourages streamlining of resources, thereby making a helpful domain for telecom development by supplementing one another’s necessities and guaranteeing more effective use of the range.
Department of Telecom holds the telecoms accountable and blame them for underinvesting resources into infrastructure including towers. TRAI pointed that telecoms made investment in network system infrastructure of just ` 9,325 crore in 2013-14. In demand for allocation of spectrum, the secretary said there was redistribution of spectrum after the March closeout and a few operators have now less range in 900 MHz band and more in 1800 MHz. Presently the Telecom firms need to put more in 1800 MHz for GSM but because of changing advancements they are not contributing. In the following years, it is estimated that there will be less interest for GSM and more individuals will switch to LTE, so the operators have distributed more spectrum for LTE (4G) where clients are not very many as of now, and by all accounts one of the primary explanations behind call drops. Telecom Secretary is of the opinion that there is no linkage between call drops and tower policy.
To counter the blame of call drops, operators contend that it is a direct result of the closure and deficiency of cell towers and too little spectrum. The industry referred to a few difficulties being confronted amidst installation of towers because of distinct reasons, including state bodies’ activities without earlier notification, limitations by regions, sealing orders, power supply issues and troubles in getting clearances for installation sites. All telecom firms and industry affiliations requested that there ought to be a uniform tower strategy that can be actualized across the nation. The demand of the hour is to have uniform policies and not just guidelines. Still others say that since each new call implies more income, call drops are actually being encouraged by the telecom firms. However, most clients have moved to per-second charging. So there is truly no motivating force for telecom firms to upset calls every now and again.
One way to combat the problem is to embrace strategies and regulations that encourage spectral effectiveness which includes permitting roaming and spectrum trading. This wouldn’t relieve the issue of unreasonable capital consumption on spectrum auctions that surpasses investments in systems, however, it would enhance range use. Another way is to share all range through pooling, permitting common bearer access on installment to Radio Access Networks including spectrum.
The government needs to unite operators and different partners, including the Ministries of Communication & IT and of Information & Broadcasting and work out how to sort out and convey the guarantee of Digital India. So, there is a dire need to find the solution with the help of right mix of policies, regulations, guidelines which must be provided at the earliest. This mix must cover the whole gamut of regulatory and policy related issues like spectrum management, licensing framework, maintenance and antenna adjustments and provision for speedy redressal forum, etc. These are the key areas where solution of the root problem can be traced and all these pieces will have to fall into place to tackle this issue.
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