DoT to take up special audit of telcos on call drops: Ravi Shankar Prasad

The Department of Telecom will undertake special audit to assess the coverage and quality of service of all mobile operators in the metro cities to assess the gravity of problem to call drops.

"The TERM cells (field unit of DoT) have been asked to take up the special audit to assess the coverage/quality of service in metro/capital cities of all mobile operators network in order to assess the gravity of problem of call drops," Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said in the Rajya Sabha on 31 July.

In reply to a query as to whether the government has ordered special audit of mobile operators on call drops, he said "yes".

The main reasons behind call drops are poor radio coverage, radio interference due to unauthorised use of repeaters or wi-max frequencies at international borders, loading of available spectrum, inadequate investment in network and change in pattern of traffic, he said.

A recent report by TRAI has said most of the telecom operators in Delhi and Mumbai are not meeting the prescribed standards regarding call drops.

The industry associations said that their "member operators are committed to work with DoT and are keen to undertake the joint exercise with the TERM Cell to address the issue of call drops."

The letter cited that term cell have asked public complaints on call drops, complaint records, configurations of pre-paid subscribers and post-subscribers in home circle which the operators feel are not relevant for auditing networks.

The industry requested DoT to come up with "Standardised Audit Procedure" and follow audit process established by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India in this regard. Source: PTI

Source: http://cablequest.org/index.php/news/telecom-news/item/7597-dot-to-take-up-special-audit-of-telcos-on-call-drops-ravi-shankar-prasad

Source: http://cablequest.org/index.php/news/telecom-news/item/7597-dot-to-take-up-special-audit-of-telcos-on-call-drops-ravi-shankar-prasad