Trai asks telcos to add towers to address call drops

Telecom sector regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) on Tuesday asked telecom operators to add more towers and reinforce 2G networks, among other measures, to check call drops.

In a technical paper on call drops, Trai said: "There is an urgent need to increase the number of towers so as to cater to the demands of a growing subscriber base."

At the same time, problems like removal of towers from certain areas by authorities should be adequately addressed, it added.

A call drop has been defined as "a voice call, which after being successfully established, is interrupted prior to its normal completion (and) the cause of early termination is within the network of the service provider".

"This problem (calldrop) is particularly evident in urban areas. Moreover, with the increase in the usage of 3G networks, the growth rate of mobile towers supporting 2G networks has reduced. This must be addressed" the paper said.

The paper suggested that measures such as Dynamic Channel Allocation, multiple call routing and optimised resource management can be employed by the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs), besides usage of mobile signal boosters at the users' buildings or premises.

"Some prioritisation schemes like Measurement-based Prioritisation Scheme, Call Admission Control Protocol, Guard Channels, Handoff Queuing and Auxillary Stations essentially need to be incorporated by TSPs to reduce call drops," the paper recommended.

Last month, the sectoral regulator 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).

Trai said it issued the regulations after considering comments of all the stakeholders.