Lok Sabha Question No. 1073 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2017-02-08
Subject: Call Drop
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: (ADV.) JOICE GEORGE, SUSHMITA DEV, KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO.1073 TO BE ANSWERED ON 8 TH  FEBRUARY, 2017

## CALL DROP

1073.   ADV. JOICE GEORGE:

KUMARI SUSHMITA DEV:

SHRI KUNWAR PUSHPENDRA SINGH CHANDEL:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether in view of increase in menace of call drops and call failures, the Union Government has  decided  to  set  up  a  platform  for  consumers  to  provide  direct  feedback  on  call  drops  and  call failures and proposes to review the telecom policy;
- (b) if so, the details in this regard;
- (c) whether call drop norms have been violated by various companies in recent times;
- (d) if so, the details of the action taken by the Government in this regard along with the present status of providing compensation to subscribers on call drop;
- (e) whether the interconnectivity disputes between some incumbent operators have intensified in the recent times resulting in consumers becoming victims of such a situation; and
- (f) if so, the steps the Union Government proposes to take to ensure that the mobile consumers are not affected due to interconnectivity disputes between some operators?

## ANSWER

## THE MINISTER OF STATE (IC) OF THE MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS & MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS (SHRI MANOJ SINHA)

- (a) & (b) The dropping of calls in wireless network is a world-wide phenomenon and happens in every  wireless  network  due  to  various  reasons  including  poor  radio  coverage,  radio  interference, loading  of  available  spectrum,  change  in  pattern  of  traffic,  shutdown  of  sites  due  to  power  failures etc.; however, both the Government and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) are taking all possible steps and pursuing with the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) to address the problem of call drop and bring it down within the permissible limit.

For obtaining direct feedback from subscribers, an IVRS (Interactive Voice Response System) has  been  launched  by  Department  of  Telecommunications  on  23.12.2016  in  Delhi,  Mumbai,  Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Maharashtra and Goa. It has been extended to all the States on 12.01.2017 except Punjab and Manipur which shall also be covered after elections in these States.The system automatically  calls  the  subscribers,  with  Calling  Line  Identification  (CLI)  number  1955  on  random basis  to  get  feedback  about  problem  of  call  drop  and  its  location.  During  first  three  weeks  (23 December  2016  to  14  January  2017)  about  2  lakh  IVRS  calls  have  been  answered  by  unique subscribers, out of which, about 16% (33,598) participated in the survey. The feedback so received is forwarded to TSPs for necessary corrective action.

- (c) TRAI monitors the performance of service providers through quarterly performance monitoring reports  and  publishes  the  same  on  its  website  www.trai.gov.in.  From  analysis  of  the  quarterly Performance  Monitoring  Reports  (PMR)  of  September  2015,  December  2015,  March  2016,  June 2016  and  September  2016  available  on  TRAI  website,  it  has  been  noticed  that  there  has  been consistent  improvement in the performance of service providers in meeting the benchmark for call drop parameter.

| Quarter ending   | Total number of TSPs   | Total number of TSPs   | Number of TSPs not meeting benchmarks of Call Drop Rate (benchmark <=2%)   | Number of TSPs not meeting benchmarks of Call Drop Rate (benchmark <=2%)   |
|------------------|------------------------|------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|----------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|                  | 2G                     | 3G                     | 2G                                                                         | 3G                                                                         |
| September 2015   | 183                    | 94                     | 4                                                                          | 2                                                                          |
| December 2015    | 183                    | 97                     | 1                                                                          | 1                                                                          |
| March 2016       | 178                    | 106                    | 1                                                                          | 1                                                                          |
| June 2016        | 175                    | 106                    | Nil                                                                        | Nil                                                                        |
| September 2016   | 163                    | 107                    | Nil                                                                        | Nil                                                                        |

All the service providers had met the benchmark for the parameter 'call drop rate (benchmark ≤ 2%)' in June 2016 & September 2016.

(d) For  addressing  call  drop  issue,  TRAI  also  regularly  undertakes  the  drive  tests  of  mobile networks in select cities; highways and railway routes to assess the Quality of Service and coverage around the areas covered in the drive test routes.The results of drive tests are shared with the service providers for improving Quality of Service and coverage in the areas identified in the Drive Tests.

TRAI imposes financial disincentives for non-compliance with the benchmarks for Quality of Service parameters including call drops.The details of financial disincentives imposed on the Cellular Service Telecom providers (2G & 3G) for non-compliance with the Quality of Service Benchmarks are given below:

| 2G Services                      | Total Rs. (in lakhs)   |
|----------------------------------|------------------------|
| Aircel                           | 302.50                 |
| BhartiAirtel                     | 40.00                  |
| Bharat Sanchar Nigam Ltd. (BSNL) | 227.00                 |
| Idea                             | 25.50                  |
| Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Ltd.   | 1.50                   |
| Reliance Com                     | 132.50                 |
| Reliance Telecom                 | 32.00                  |
| Sistema                          | 3.00                   |
| Tata                             | 89.00                  |
| Telewings                        | 13.50                  |
| Vodafone                         | 84.00                  |
| Total                            | 950.50                 |
| 3G Services                      |                        |
| Aircel                           | 156.50                 |
| BSNL                             | 70.00                  |
| Vodafone                         | 2.50                   |
| Total                            | 229.00                 |

In addition, the Government is also constantly monitoring the progress of telecom operators in respect of addressing the call drop issue and periodic review meetings are held in this regard. During the review, the TSPs have reported that they have already installed more than 1,60,000 additional BTSs (Base Transceiver Stations) across the country during 6½ month period from 15 th June 2016 to 31 st December 2016 and further plan to install about 1,10,000 additional BTSs across the country up to 31 st March 2017.The TSPs have also informed that about 4,97,000 BTSs have been optimized for improvement  in  Network  Performance  from  June  2015  onwards  and  in  addition,  frequency  replanning done for more than 4,25,000 BTSs for handling interference issues.

From the point of view of compensating consumers for dropped calls, TRAI had notified 'The Telecom Consumers Protection (Ninth Amendment) Regulations, 2015 (9 of 2015) on 16 th October 2015,  to  be  effective  from  1 st January  2016.  These  regulations  mandated  originating  CMTSPs (Cellular Mobile Telephone Service Providers) to credit one Rupee for a dropped call to the calling consumers as notional compensation, limited to three dropped calls in a day. The service providers and  their  associations  approached  the  Supreme  Court  against  the  said  Regulations  of  TRAI.  The Hon'ble Supreme Court vide its order dated 11.05.2016, quashed the said Regulations.

(e) & (f) On  the  issue  of  interconnectivity  disputes  between  a  new  operator  with  some incumbent operators, the Government has directed the TSPs to resolve the issues of interconnectivity among  themselves  within  the  existing  regulatory  framework  so  as  to  avoid  inconvenience  to  the consumers.

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