Tower sealing to aggravate call drops: Telecom CEOs

Operators have nitiated discussions with MCD authorities to find resolution to tower sealing

Chief executive officers (CEOs) of telecommunication companies on Friday wrote to the government saying the ongoing sealing of tower sites by municipal corporations in Delhi is expected to increase call drops for consumers.

“With every 40 sites being sealed, there is an average of 20 per cent increase in call drops. In the past two days, municipal corporations have sealed 16 sites. In the last month, 70 sites were sealed,” CEOs of telcos, including Bharti Airtel’s Gopal Vittal, Vodafone’s Sunil Sood and Reliance’s Gurdip Singh, said in a joint letter addressed to telecom secretary Rakesh Garg, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Chairman R S Sharma and minister for communications and information technology Ravi Shankar Prasad.

Similarly, sites have been shut in Mumbai due to arbitrary actions by the municipal corporation and resident welfare associations. In the past year, about 1,700 sites have been shut all over India.

“We are constrained to bring to your notice that despite your good efforts and intervention to assist the operators in the issue of call drops, this continuing unilateral activity of the Delhi municipalities in sealing cell sites will cause increase in call drops and inconvenience to consumers,” the letter said.

The operators said they have initiated discussions with local corporation authorities to find a solution.