Does it really help? A small icon on the handset anyway tells you the signal strength. What can a subscriber possible gain from the open network feature? Isn't it just a gimmick?
Actually, so long as the signal is strong, it is unlikely that this feature will be used by the subscriber. But that is not always the case: the signal is weak in large parts of the country. This is where the open network creates a new level of engagement with the subscriber.
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This is indeed smart. Ever since call drops snowballed into a major issue during the campaign for Bihar elections last year, there has been a growing feeling that telecom service operators take their subscribers for granted - more so after the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's hastily put together plan to penalise them for call drops was struck down by the Supreme Court.
Just when the feeling was gaining ground that nothing could be done to collar the telecom companies, Bharti Airtel has launched the open network initiative. This surely differentiates it from others - at least for now. In the battle of perceptions, it has stolen a march over rivals. In the age of number portability, perceptions of service quality are all-important to hold on to subscribers and attract those on other networks.
It serves another, more vital, purpose: the feature allows subscribers to suggest sites for telecom towers in their neighbourhood. The idea is that with better engagement, a lot of such suggestions will start to flow in. This will put pressure on the Resident Welfare Associations, which have stoutly opposed telecom towers out of fear that the towers emit harmful radiation, to relent.
These RWAs are the biggest thorn on the side of the telecom companies today, which means telecom signal is inadequate in people's homes. Unless their opposition is neutered, the companies cannot hope to put up more towers. Once there is a dialogue between subscribers and Bharti Airtel, it is possible that the RWAs may change their intransigent stand. This is clever thinking by the company: the campaign sends out the message that the signal is weak not because Bharti Airtel has underinvested - the RWAs simply won't allow it to put up more towers on the ground.
When I spoke to some Bharti Airtel executives about it, they told me that several subscribers have suggested sites for new towers, though the feature has been around for only a fortnight or so. Armed with these suggestions, the company hopes to start a dialogue with the RWAs. If things indeed work out like this, there could be an improvement in the quality of the company's service.
The all important question is, how long will it be before this feature is copied by others? In the telecom industry, technological innovations get copied in no time.
From what I understand, Bharti Airtel worked on this for one full year before rolling it out. This involved mapping all its 150,000 or so towers in the country, coupled with their real-time performance, which is not an easy task.
As an open network, Bharti Airtel cannot afford to just note down the subscriber's complaint of inadequate signal: it has to provide an instant solution. For this, the company has overhauled its call centres and stores; consumers now need to be told what has caused the problem and how to fix it. It has also brought its field force into the picture, which can tweak the equipment on the tower for better signal in case of persistent complaints from one neighbourhood.
Bharti Airtel looks confident that others may not be able to replicate it in a hurry because all of this takes a lot of effort. But the technology is not really earth shattering: many other service operators have the bandwidth to open their networks for public scrutiny. However, one factor may stop them: their networks are smaller than that of Bharti Airtel; if they disclose their hand, subscribers may compare them with Bharti Airtel, in which they will come out poorly.
This is a part of Project Leap which Bharti Airtel had announced last year: it entails an investment of Rs 60,000 crore over the next three years to improve the quality of its network. The company has also said that it will not let call drops exceed 1.5 per cent, which is better than the two per cent allowed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India.