Most operators fail Mumbai call drop test: Trai

KOLKATA: Most mobile carriers have failed the call drop test in Mumbai, telecom regulator said on Tuesday, unveiling the results of latest drive tests conducted in the country’s financial capital in May.

"Most operators (in Mumbai), excepting Airtel 2G/3G and Vodafone 2G, are not meeting the under 2 per cent call drop rate benchmark," said the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) in a statement Tuesday. In the drive tests conducted during May 10 to 13 in Mumbai, the call drop rates of No 1 carrier, Bharti Airtel’s 2G and 3G networks stood at 1.49 per cent and 1.94 per cent, while Vodafone-2G’s was 1.68 per cent.

State-run MTNL was the worst offender, with its 2G and 3G operations reflecting call drop rates of nearly 43 per cent and 18 per cent, respectively. The call drop rate on Tata Teleservices’ CDMA network was also relatively high at 8.8 per cent while Idea’s was 5 per cent.

However, most telcos in Mumbai met the call set-up success rate benchmark of over 95 per cent, except MTNL and Reliance Communications, Trai said. The independent drive tests in Mumbai were conducted last month by audit agency IMRB International. A drive test, typically, is conducted in a moving vehicle stacked with gear to continuously make cellphone calls and check if they fail.

The Mumbai drive test results come at a time when ties between the mobile carriers and Trai have hit a low with both parties adopting an aggressive stance against one another on several issues, including call drops.

Trai has conducted similar drive tests in Delhi, Hyderabad, Bhopal and Chandigarh and rebuked the telcos for continuing call drops. But telcos have disagreed with Trai’s methodology.