To the rescue: But it will cost you a bomb

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: When television channels carry good Samaritan messages sent via SMS, do you realise that they make a killing, along with the mobile operators that carry the messages, even if they don’t really want to?

This is because SMS messages sent to TV channels typically carry a premium charge, which is split between the channel and the operator.

Right now, there is no system in place to discriminate between messages that vote for the best singer on the show and messages from Rinku assuring papa that she’s safe after a bomb attack. Telecom regulator Trai is in the process of devising a method to rid SMS revenues of such blood money.

Trai has started consultations on SMS rates, operators have given in their comments and an Open House on the subject is slated to be held in Delhi on July 17. Following this, the regulator will issue directions next month, in which the premium charges on public service messages sent to TV channels are expected to be sorted out.

Another question that stumps callers in an emergency such as Tuesday’s bomb blasts is why mobile networks, the lifeline of communication, get jammed when the user needs them the most.

In the wake of mobile phones in Mumbai going dead just minutes after TV channels began airing news of the serial blasts, ET asked all service providers to explain as to what led to this scenario and their plans to tackle similar situations in the future.

While all service providers were quick to adopt a defensive stance, some however accepted the responsibility for not educating their subscribers to deal with the scenario.

“Congestion is caused by multiple attempts by subscribers to reach a phone. This creates a cascading effect on the network. As you make four or five attempts to the same number, your number also remains busy. A base station or tower is equipped to take care of 1,000-5,000 calls per hour depending on its configuration.

However in times of panic, call load per base station can jump to over 10 times its capacity,” explained Sanjay Thakur GM Networks, Tata Indicom.

Endorsing this view, Hutchison Essar executives said that while operators have 30%-50% extra capacity, multiple attempts, each of which is recognised as a call by the network switch, was the primary reason for the Mumbai jam.

“If users had waited for a couple of minutes before redialing, the problem could have been contained,” they added.
In fact, the country’s largest GSM provider Bharti Airtel said that their network is equipped to handle up to two times the peak load and had even installed a special software that enables the company to take in double the traffic in emergency situations.

“Owing to the inordinate amount of traffic yesterday, there was a short period of time when subscribers experienced congestion. However, subscribers were able to send and receive SMSs during the period,” said Jayant Khosla, director (West), mobility, Bharti Airtel.

Adding yet another dimension to the Mumabi phone tangle on Tuesday, MTNL executives said that STD calls from across the country which were terminating on the city’s networks simultaneously also played a significant part in clogging the network.