Tech Telecom

A Parliamentary panel has called telecom operators along with the Department of Telecom and sector regulator TRAI for a meeting on November 10 to discuss the raging call drop issue. The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology, headed by MP Anurag Thakur, has called members of industry body COAI and Reliance Jio separately. Reliance Jio, also a member of Cellular Operators Association of India, has blamed the industry body for promulgating views of chiefly incumbent telecom operators — Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular.

According to Lok Shaba Notice, the subject of the meeting is ‘Issues related to quality of services and reported call drops’, the panel will meet and hear views of representatives of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) and Reliance Jio, followed by meeting with representatives of DoT and The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Call drops is an important issue that needs to be addressed shortly because of the tussle between Reliance Jio and incumbent operators for not providing adequate interconnection facility to Jio leading to heavy call drops.

For the smooth functioning of mobile services, Interconnection allows the customers of one service provider to communicate with the customers of another service provider. Previously, TRAI has also recommended a penalty of Rs 3,050 crore on Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, holding them responsible for congestion on Reliance Jio network leading to call drops. As per the quality of service rules, not more than five calls in 1,000 should fail due to network congestion.