 "Idea buys Videocon's spectrum for Rs 3,310 cr")
Telecom operators have been aggressively upgrading their networks, even as the Delhi High Court is likely to pronounce its order on compensation for call drops on Wednesday.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has asked operators to pay a compensation of Re one for every call drop, maximum three calls per day per mobile user, starting January 1. But, this was challenged by operators in the high court, which refused to stay the directive but posted the hearing for Wednesday.
If government sources are to be believed, there is significant improvement in the networks of telecom players and the call drops rate has come down significantly over the last few months.
| TOWERING NUMBERS |
|
Telecom players, including Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular, have added about 29,000 new towers across the country. Out of this, state-run player BSNL set up 4,500 mobile towers in the country, while MTNL, which operates in Delhi and Mumbai, installed 28 towers in Delhi.
Minister for Communications and IT Ravi Shankar Prasad has been constantly monitoring the situation, with the department of telecommunication and Trai working in tandem to resolve the situation.
Telcos have said Trai regulation is unfair as laws of physics make it impossible to provide a 100 per cent call drop-free network and it is beyond the powers of the telecom regulator to impose such a penalty. However, Trai has claimed the order is well within its powers and it is the responsibility of the operators to provide quality services.
In the past few months, operators have taken many steps to improve the situation. India's largest telecom player Bharti Airtel says call drops are only affecting one per cent of sites and the situation is difficult in select pockets.
"The total number of towers has increased by 30 per cent in the past few months to improve connectivity. Capex has also been stepped up in FY16 compared to last year. The issue, however, is difficult to address is the lack of sites in select pockets. The situation has improved in Delhi as NDMC has allocated 35-40 sites to but the company constrained by quantum of spectrum," an Airtel spokesperson said.
"Apart from adding new sites, we are also using smart technology tools to optimise network, which makes process dynamic depending on the nature of the traffic on 2G, 3G and 4G," the spokesperson added.
According to data, there are about 425,000 towers across the country but experts say the industry needs at least 100,000-200,000 more towers. Also, according to a report by consultancy firm Deloitte, the tenancy ratio per tower is expected to grow to 2.48 by 2020 from 1.77 in 2014-15 because of growth in data.
However, the annual growth in towers would be only three per cent over the next four to five years with total number of towers reaching 511,000 by 2020.
Vodafone has set up a war room, consisting of senior leaders from the company to monitor the call drop situation in the country with special focus on key zones such as Lutyens Delhi.
The situation got aggravated by a recent sealing drive by various municipal corporations, and in many cases, telcos are not able to install towers due to radiation fears among the residents despite India having strict radiation norms.
Till now, there has been no conclusive study on harmful impact of radiation from towers. The telecom ministry has given permission to telcos to install towers on government buildings and post offices.
