Tata CDMA saw lowest call drop rate in Gujarat: TRAI QOS report

In the latest network audit released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) for the assessment of Quality of Service (QOS) in the Gujarat circle, Tata Teleservices Ltd. (TTSL)'s CDMA service saw the lowest call drop rate at 0.32 per cent for the second quarter of 2011.

Followed by Tata's CDMA service, RTL GSM, RCOM CDMA, Aircel and MTS saw some of the lowest call drop rates at 0.35 per cent, 0.40 per cent, 0.40 per cent and 0.44 per cent, respectively.

Conducted by "an independent agency engaged for the objective assessment of quality of service in Gujarat service area", the report assesses service providers including Aircel, Airtel, Videocon, BSNL, Idea, RTL GSM, Tata, Vodafone, Uninor, Etisalat, MTS, RCOM CDMA and Tata CDMA on various parameters.

"The objective assessment of quality of service of the service providers, namely, M/s Aircel, Airtel, Videocon, BSNL, Idea, RTL GSM, Tata, Vodafone, Uninor, Etisalat, MTS, RCOM CDMA and TATA CDMA was conducted during the period from April, 2011 to June, 2011. Service provider's performance on the selected Key Parameters in respect of cellular mobile telephone service based on one month data verification," the regulatory body stated.

In all, the assessment was based on parameters such as network availability, call set-up success rate, call drop rate, metering and billing credibility, and help services, among other things.

For instance, in terms of help services, TRAI looked at percentage of calls answered by operators (voice to voice) within 60 seconds wherein Tata's CDMA scored again with 100 per cent, followed by Etisalat (99.63), MTS (96), Videocon (95.40), and Idea (95), respectively. Among those with worst affected base transceiver station (BTS)s with a benchmark of less than or equal to two per cent included BSNL at 1.73 per cent, followed by RCOM CDMA (0.50), Tata GSM (40) and Airtel (40), respectively.

Most of the service providers performed well, according to TRAI, when it came to call set-up success rate within licensee's own network with Etisalat leading the list at 99.85 per cent. The other top performers for the parameters included RCOM GSM (99.68), Idea (99.51), Tata CDMA (99.55), Airtel (99.35) and Aircel (99.30) at a benchmark of more than or equal to 95 per cent.

Meanwhile, in terms of percentage of connection with good voice quality at a benchmark of equal to or more than 95 per cent, MTS scored the highest with 100 per cent. As per the report, the next best good voice quality was seen among Etisalat (98.60), Aircel (98.50), Videocon (98.30) and Tata GSM (97.71), respectively.