Finance minister Arun Jaitley pulls up Vodafone global chief Vittorio Colao for call drops

NEW DELHI: The irritation over call drops is clearly showing and Vodafone Group CEO Vittorio Colao was at the receving end on Wednesday when he met senior government functionaries.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley could not conceal his impatience during his meeting with the head of the world's second largest mobile operator and went to the extent of saying that he felt like he had been transported back to the pre-mobile days of 1995, given the connectivity that was on offer.

Sources familiar with discussions told TOI that the usually soft-spoken minister pointed out how he did not receive signals either at home or in his office and could only see numbers flashing.

Finance minister Arun Jaitley told Vodafone Group CEO Vitorrio Colao that if he sees an important number on the screen of his mobile phone, he uses the landline to return the call. "Telecom was a success story but that has been spoilt by deficient service even by global leaders," the minister is learnt to have told Colao.

The finance minister was not the only one complaining. Telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad, who has been leading the charge to get telecom companies to fix the problem, too took up the issue that has been impacting consumers. "I very firmly told him, call drops need to be addressed and I want Vodafone to play a very proactive role. Consumers are concerned and we are also concerned, and this is a priority issue and I mentioned in particular Delhi, Eastern UP, Bihar and Mumbai," he said.

In recent weeks, even Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed concern over call drops, prompting the government to initiate a series of steps even as telecom operators continue to blame availability of spectrum.

During an interaction with reporters, however, Colao said a number of issues caused the problem.

"It's linked to the amount of spectrum that we have, it's linked to the ease of getting permits, right of ways. We are working positively with DoT... It is not a problem of money, but problem of operating conditions. If we have more spectrum, then we also need to build many more sites. It's a vicious cycle — more sites, more issues, more bureaucratic administrative problems, more drops. If you can break this, I think India will get the same service as the rest." Colao said that collective efforts from the government and industry could help deal with the issue of call drops in six months even as he suggested that a penalty, proposed by Trai, was not the best solution.