Lok Sabha Question No. 611 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2023-12-06
Subject: Call Drop Problem
Ministry: COMMUNICATIONS
Asked by: Dharambir Singh

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 611 TO BE ANSWERED ON 6 TH  DECEMBER, 2023

## CALL DROP PROBLEM

## †611.   SHRI DHARAMBIR SINGH:

Will the Minister of COMMUNICATIONS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware that the problem of call drop has been increasing drastically for the last few years;
- (b) if so, the effective steps taken by the Government to prevent this and the name of telecom companies against whom action has been taken;
- (c) whether the Government has any plan to instal any mobile tower in the districts of Bhiwani and Mahendragarh of Haryana bordering Rajasthan, if so, the details thereof; and
- (d) the time by which mobile tower will be installed?

## ANSWER

## MINISTER OF STATE FOR COMMUNICATIONS (SHRI DEVUSINH CHAUHAN)

(a) & (b) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) monitors the performance of Telecom Service Providers against the benchmarks for various Quality of Service (QoS) parameters. As per the  quarterly  Performance  Measurement  Reports  of  last  seven  quarters  (from  March  2022  to September 2023), all the telecom service providers are meeting the benchmark of both the parameters related to call drop in all the Licensed Service Areas. TRAI publishes the results of QoS Reports including Call Drop parameters, on its website, forcing the service providers to improve its service. TRAI also carries out the Audit and Assessment of TSP's QoS.

Wherever  the  benchmark  is  not  met  by  service  provider,  the  explanation  of  the  service providers is called, and financial disincentives are imposed for non-compliance with the benchmark.

Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has taken several policy initiatives to facilitate infrastructure growth in the country including:

- i. Ensuring adequate availability of spectrum through open and transparent auction.
- ii. Permitting sharing, trading and leasing of Spectrum
- iii. Permitting passive and active infrastructure sharing
- iv. Procedure for Standing Advisory Committee on Radio Frequency Allocation (SACFA) siting clearance for Low Power BTS/ small cells ,i.e, Micro, Pico and Femto cells on existing street furniture/infrastructure has been simplified.
- v. To  facilitate  faster  and  easier  deployment  of  telecom  infrastructure,  Government  has amended the Indian Telegraph Right of Way Rules (RoW), 2016.

- vi. GatiShakti Sanchar portal has been launched to facilitate and expedite RoW permissions, by providing  a  single  interface  between  all  stakeholders  including  Central  and  State/UT Government(s), Local bodies and Service Providers.
- vii. Making available government land/buildings for installations of towers.

As a result of these reforms, total number of Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) have increased from 6.49 Lakh in March, 2014 to 28.52 Lakh in November, 2023.

(c) & (d) As on 4 th  December, 2023, 2,976 number of BTSs have been installed in Bhiwani and 2,613 number of BTSs in Mahendragarh. TSPs install mobile towers and Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs) to improve coverage and/or capacity of their networks based on their techno-commercial requirements.

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