Question : Call Drops

(a) whether there has been virtually no decrease in call drops and improvement in the quality of mobile network coverage in recent months despite the Government''s tough posture on the issue;

(b) if so, the reasons therefor;

(c) whether the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has conducted service quality audit of mobile network service providers;

(d) if so, the outcome thereof, operator and circle-wise and the steps taken by the Union Government to deal with the call drops menace and the action taken against the operators for unsatisfactory services and call drops; and

(e) whether the compensation system for call drop has been implemented and if so, the number of subscribers compensated so far, operator-wise and if not, the timeline fixed for its implementation?

THE MINISTER OF COMMUNICATIONS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
(SHRI RAVI SHANKAR PRASAD)

(a) & (b) The Government has actively worked in the recent months to reduce the instances of call drops and further improve quality of mobile network coverage. As a result, the certain developments so far are mentioned in-brief as follows:

• The recent Regulations notified by TRAI has imposed stricter penalties for not meeting Quality of Services parameters by the telecommunications service providers. TRAI has also notified the Regulations that mandates the compensation at the rate of Re 1/- per call drop per subscriber who has experienced call drops during the day. It is provided that a maximum of 03 call drops per day in a given network may be compensated by the service provider for each subscriber.



• During the last six months, around 20 thousand additional sites have been added for 2G (GSM) services across India. Similarly around 45 thousand sites have been added for 3G services.
• The Government has continued to facilitate the availability of Government land and buildings for further installations by the service providers and has been creating awareness to dispel the potential fear due to EMF radiations on human health.

(c) TRAI has been conducting the service quality audit of mobile networks service providers on regular basis since July 2015. The most recent audit exercise for 7 major cities viz. Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bhubaneshwar, Indore, Pune and Surat has been conducted during December 2015 to January 2016. The results have been published by TRAI on 4th February 2016.

(d) As a result, out of 217 ‘2G’ service providers, the number of defaulters have reduced from 54 to 39 in the last four months. Similarly, out of 94 ‘3G’ service providers, the number of defaulters have reduced from 20 to 18. This relates to the cases where the measured call drop rate is over 3%.

(e) While certain financial penalties have also been imposed by TRAI on the defaulting service providers, the case to provide compensation to each subscriber is currently sub judice at High Court of Delhi. The judgement on the matter is reserved.


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