Nuts and Bolts of Call Drop Issue

For cellphone users in India, it is becoming common to be cut off mid-sentence - and not just because the other person's bored with the conversation. -Call drops- have doubled in the last one year, according to telecom regulator TRAI, and are now four times higher than the permissible limit.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) last month mandated that telecom companies from January 1 should compensate users at the rate of Re. 1 per dropped call, with a ceiling of three dropped calls per day (or Rs. 3 per day).

What is call drop?

The issue of call drops - when the phone connection gets broken midst-call - has turned into a new battle between operators and the government.

What Telecom companies say:

Telecoms say they aren't being given access to enough spectrum or airwaves, and that more cellphone towers need to be installed.
Operators also say that every day, the density of cellphone users in big cities is growing - and that's leading to congestion.

An association of cellphone operators said that in the last seven months, operators have installed 70,000 cell towers across India, and will have to invest in another lakh in the next two years to solve call drops. The cost of installing a tower and renting its location is borne by the telecom.  

A National Tower Policy which provides comprehensive rules is urgently needed, said the Cellphone Operators Association of India, claiming that towers should be allowed on government buildings and on defence land without rental fees.

Government’s points:

The government however rejects these claims and accuses telecoms of ducking the required investment to improve the performance of calls.

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has repeatedly said that ample spectrum is available for operators, and that it is the telcoms' responsibility to upgrade the networks.

The minister said he has also clarified to the public that telecom towers are not health hazards, and activism to have them removed from residential neighbourhoods is unwarranted.  But telecoms claim that 10,000 towers have been removed in the last year.

Real Problem:

The country's telecom regulator TRAI has found a two-fold jump in call drops on 2G networks and by 65 percent on 3G networks in a one-year period ending March 2015.

A proposal recently approved by the Cabinet allows operators who have fewer subscribers to loan or rent out their unutilised airwaves to larger players.