The Department of Telecom will meet telecom operators once again this quarter for a status check on call drops, which it says, has improved but still not satisfactory.
"The call drop situation has shown improvement with additional spectrum availability, and the private sector making more investments in technology and towers... But it is not satisfactory because call drops are happening," Telecom Secretary, JS Deepak told PTI.
DoT had held discussions with telecom operators last year on the consumer-centric issue of call drops and quality of service. Following this, telecom operators installed more than 1,30,000 additional Base Transceiver Stations or BTSs (mobile towers) across the country during June-October 2016 period and further committed to install more than 1,50,000 additional BTSs across the country by March 2017.
In December, in a bid to tackle the call drop issue, government launched an Integrated Voice Response System or IVRS, at multiple locations including Delhi and Mumbai to obtain direct feedback from subscribers on call quality, and to enable operators to take corrective steps in the problem areas.
Asked if DoT will meet telcos again for a status check on the overall call drop situation, Deepak said that the Department has been meeting the telcos every quarter and there will be another one on the issue before March-end, although the date has not been finalised.
"It is work in progress. While 2.50 lakh BTSs are being put and adequate spectrum is being made available, still there are dark spots...These are issues that the industry is trying to address through better use of technology and optimisation of network. I am sure that by March, the situation will see further improvement," he said.
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