Call drops not linked to national tower policy: Government

The government on Monday asked telecom service providers to optimise allocation of resources to address the call drop issue and rejected the operators' claim that it was linked to the national tower policy.

"Tower issue is miniscule. This can't be seen as major reason for call drops. Telecom companies need to optimise resource allocation. We will work on finding solution for setting up towers on government building or land," telecom secretary Rakesh Garg said.

"There is no linkage between call drops and tower policy. There was no policy earlier but call drops did not happen. The problem has arisen in the last few months. They have to find a solution within the existing norms," he added.

Earlier in the day, telecom operators demanded uniform guidelines for cell sites and right of way (RoW) across telecom circles in India to address the issue of call drops.

Garg met telecom operators on Monday and asked them to take all necessary steps to improve quality of services.

"No serious efforts are being made to bring about a perceptible change."

"The government can't give solution to telcom operators. The government gave resources. Telcos need to put in more investment in infrastructure. We have instructed telcos to resolve call drop issue as soon as possible," he said.