Airtel has the least call drops in Mumbai: Trai

Tata fares the best in the national capital

Bharti Airtel has emerged as the mobile network with the least number of call drops on Mumbai roads, while in Delhi, Tata (CDMA) tops the list, according to two-day drive tests conducted by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

According to the telecom regulator, the quality of service benchmark for the call drop rate had to be less than two per cent.

In Mumbai, the call drop rate for Airtel was 0.97 per cent. At 5.56 per cent, Idea Cellular’s rate was the highest. Except for one operator, none met the prescribed benchmark, Trai said. In Mumbai, the test was carried out between 9 am and 7:30 pm on June 23-24. It covered peak and off-peak hours and about 3,305 calls were made for all six operators. On Trai’s behalf, TUV SUD conducted the drive test, covering various locations in the south and central parts of the city.

In the national capital, Tata emerged as the best operator, with a call drop rate of only 0.84 per cent. At 17.29 per cent, Reliance Telecommunications’ rate was the highest. Here, the test was carried out on July 9-11. It covered various locations in south central and west Delhi. The test, carried out between 9 am and 8:30 pm, covered both peak as well as off-peak hours. A total of 3,626 calls were made across six networks.

Trai said the main limitation of a drive test was that it was based on data collected at a specific point. Also, it showed only the network conditions/performance along the route covered by the test vehicle; it didn’t reflect the long-term performance of the networks and the network conditions away from the route covered.

The regulator said telecom service providers claimed frequent call drops resulted from limited spectrum; delay in allocation of spectrum; reduction in the 2G frequency band after the spectrum auction; and major changeover of frequencies within and across the 900-MHz and 1,800-MHz bands on the live networks of some players. Poor coverage due to non-availability of sites for base transceiver stations in some areas; and sealing and forced closure of existing sites were also cited.

During the past six months, 801 sites in Mumbai and 523 sites in Delhi were shut due to various reasons. The closure of each site affects three to four neighbouring sites, which might result in increased call drops at these locations.

Trai is weighing the need for a consultation paper on ‘regulatory framework on call drops’, based on available information, discussions with telecom service providers, independent tests and international best practices.

The drive tests in Delhi and Mumbai were conducted using a computer connected to several mobile phones. Each phone had a SIM card from a different operator. Each phone was used to dial specified phone numbers and calls were connected and checked for quality. The test checked for five different parameters — signal availability (coverage), call success (availability), call continuity (retainability), mobility and voice quality.