DoT summons telecom companies to review call drop situation

KOLKATA: The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has summoned all mobile phone operators on Thursday to review the call drops situation across India and discuss the results of recent ‘drive tests’ conducted by the government, stepping up monitoring of the critical issue of failing service quality.


A drive test is typically conducted in a moving vehicle loaded with gear to continuously make cellphone calls and check whether they fail.

"Such drive tests have been conducted by government network audit teams over several hours to identify coverage gaps in a particular circle, both during peak and off-peak hours,” a person familiar with the matter told ET. The objective of such drive tests is to verify if all mobile operators meet network-related benchmarks. Results of mobile drive tests often reveal the reasons for call drops. The DoT can determine if a call.



A drive test can also establish if call drops were triggered by interference caused by two mobile towers in close proximity using the same frequencies.

During the meeting, the DoT will review steps taken by mobile carriers to reduce call drops and improve network quality.

“All operators were recently asked to submit action-taken reports to the government and these will be reviewed,” said a senior executive at a mobile phone operator, who will be attending the meeting.

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad had recently called for a suitable disincentive mechanism to penalise mobile operators for the increasing instances of call drops, which make it difficult to carry out uninterrupted conversations through mobile phones. However, the sector regulator said operators are not entirely to blame as fears over cell tower radiation and local laws have hindered efforts by telecom companies to put up adequate cell sites, resulting in frequent call drops across the country.

The telecom industry has blamed call drops on the continuing challenges of installing mobile towers and a spectrum shortage amid surging data traffic growth.

Prasad is unwilling to buy the spectrum scarcity excuse and has repeatedly urged mobile phone carriers to improve efficiencies to provide better services.

Operators are likely to point out to the DoT that continuing nonavailability of tower sites in central business districts, commercial and residential complexes.