Call drops: TRAI to submit recommendations by October 15

NEW DELHI: Amid rising concerns of call drops, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is floating second information paper within two weeks time clearly stipulating the factors and compensation that may be paid to the consumer by the telecom companies, said its Chairman  RS Sharma at an ASSOCHAM event .

The regulator has asked stakeholders to send in suggestions by September 21 while counter-arguments need to be submitted by September 28. TRAI will submit its final recommendations till October 15.

The telecom regulator is circulating another information paper which is going to bring out the quality of service of calls specifically in the areas of Delhi and Mumbai. Thereafter such surveys shall be extended to other cities, said Sharma while inaugurating ‘11th National Summit on e-Governance & Digital India,’ organised by The Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM).

“After 15 days, we will check whether they are able to improve the situation or not on issue of call drops. Otherwise, we will take a call as what are next step to be taken”, said Sharma at an event.

He also said that TRAI has already floated a consultation paper which essentially talks about compensating the consumers.

The TRAI chairman said the deficiency in this service to customers was "unacceptable". The TRAI was working with telecom service operators on checking on the reasons for call drops. In Mumbai and Delhi, surveys would be carried and necessary corrections would be applied and it would be monitored over 15 days to pinpoint the responsibility.

Sharma also announced that the opposition with respect to setting up telecom towers in residential areas was based on apprehensions that were baseless.

He said the TRAI, telecom operators and government together should promote an awareness campaign on this as without telecom towers service quality would not improve.

Pointing out that quality "is a two-way street", Akhil Gupta, Vice-Chairman, Bharti Enterprises lauded the Union Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad for writing to state chief ministers to provide sites for setting up telecom infrastructure. However, he wanted the State Electricity Boards to take up the electricity supply to telecom towers on a priority basis.

Santosh Anoo, Senior Director, Deloitte in India, said, “Focused execution using innovative partnership models will expedite the realization of the Digital India vision. Best of breed localized solutions with focus on total cost of ownership will build on the great start and deliver viable business models”.

Other Speakers who also spoke during the conference were P Balaji, Director, Regulatory, External Affairs & CSR, Vodafone India, Jay Chen, CEO, Huawei, India, Umang Das, Chairman, National Council on e-Governance & Digital India and DS Rawat, Secretary General, ASSOCHAM.