Lok Sabha Question No. 1228 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2018-07-25
Subject: Mobile Service Quality Assessment
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: M. UDHAYAKUMAR

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK  SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1228 TO BE ANSWERED ON 25 th   JULY, 2018

## MOBILE SERVICE QUALITY ASSESSMENT

1228. ADV. M. UDHAYAKUMAR:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state

(a) whether  the  Telecom  Regulatory  Authority  of  India  (TRAI)  has  conducted  any assessment of mobile operators with regard to call drop issues and mobile service quality and if so, the details and the outcomes thereof;

- (b) whether  the  Government  proposes  to  take  any  action  against  operators  not meeting the quality benchmarks of the mobile services and if so, the details thereof and if not, the reasons therefor;
- (c) whether the said assessment is benchmarked to the new, more stringent call drop norms that came into effect in October, 2017 and if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) whether  the  operators  continue  to  face  many  problems  at  ground  level  when  it comes to getting approvals for infrastructure and networks roll outs and if so, the details thereof and the reasons therefor along with the steps taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER

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

(a) to (c) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has been monitoring the Quality of Service performed by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) against the benchmarks for the various quality  of  service  parameters  laid  down  by  TRAI  through regulations  issued from time  to time, including parameters relating to call drop.

TRAI had recently reviewed the network related parameters and issued 'the Standards for Quality of Service for Basic (Wireline) and Cellular Mobile Telephone Services (Fifth Amendment) Regulations, 2017' dated 18 th  August 2017. These Regulations, effective from 1 st  October 2017 have prescribed two revised parameters for assessing call drop in mobile network, viz. Call droprate  Spatial  distribution  measure  (benchmark  ≤ 2%)  implies  that  at-least  90%  of  Cells  in  the network should perform better than specified 2% benchmark on at-least 90% of days. Similarly, another new parameter, Call drop-rate Temporal distribution measure will give confidence that on at-least 90% of Days, network performed better than specified 3% benchmark for at-least 97% of the Cells.

Revised  approach  for  assessing  Call  drop-rate  will  give  better  insight  into  the  network performance of service provider and help to highlight the specific areas and specific days when network performance was excellent or good or poor. The performance on these parameters is monitored  quarterly  through  Performance  Monitoring  Reports  (PMR)  submitted  by  service providers for the service area as a whole. As per PMR for the quarter ending March 2018, all TSPs offering mobile services are generally meeting both the parameters in all License Service Areas (LSAs) except, M/s Idea & Tata is not meeting in 5 LSAs each, M/s Telenor in 2 LSAs and M/s BSNL in 1 LSA only. For the parameter Call drop-rate Temporal distribution measure, M/s Tata is not meeting in 7 LSAs, M/s Idea & Telenor in 2 LSAs each and M/s BSNL in 1 LSA only.

So far  as  violations  are  concerned,  the  Authority  has  now  introduced  a  revised  graded Financial Disincentives (FD) structure, effective from 1 st  October 2017, for monitoring compliance against these parameters. If network does not meet benchmark, then financial disincentives may also be increased by Rupees One lakh for every 2% deviation from the benchmark, subject to a maximum FD of Rupees Five lakh per parameter, in case of first contravention.  However, in the case of non-compliance in consecutive quarters, then the amount of FD may be increased by a factor of 1.5 for first consecutive contravention and by a factor of 2 for second and subsequent consecutive contraventions.  The total amount payable as financial disincentives under this new regulation  in  a  quarter,  for  one  or  both  parameters  combined,  shall  not  exceed  Rupees  Ten Lakhs.

In accordance with above, action has been initiated for imposing financial disincentives on TSPs for non-compliance with the benchmarks.

(d) The problems faced by the operators are mainly on account of resistance by residents & public against installation of mobile towers due to perceived fear of Electro-Magnetic Field (EMF) radiations  and  time-taken  to  get  Right  of  Way  permissions  from  concerned  authorities  &  local bodies for laying Optic-Fiber Cable (OFC) and installation of mobile towers.

The  Government  has  taken  various  initiatives  to  address  these  concerns  and facilitate expansion of telecom infrastructure as follows:

- (i) adoption of norms for EMF-related compliances to dispel fear of EMF radiations on human health. These norms are more stringent than the ones recommended by World Health Organisation (WHO).
- (ii) conduct of awareness programs for information of residents & public on continuous  basis  by  the  stakeholders  including  TSPs,  Medical  practitioners  & officials from concerned jurisdictions.
- (iii) launch of Tarang Sanchar, a public web portal for information sharing on mobile towers and their status of compliance to Electro-Magnetic Field (EMF) norms. Any mobile user may also submit an online request by paying a nominal fee to get EMF compliance re-checked at a specified location.
- (iv) notification of Indian Telegraph Right of Way  Rules, 2016 for regulating underground  infrastructure  (optical  fibre)  and  over-ground  infrastructure  (mobile towers)  so  that  applications  by  the  operators  are  processed  in  a  time-bound manner.

In addition, the Government has facilitated the operators to install additional mobile towers on the government estate on multiple-sharing basis.

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