Call drops? Blame poor infra, say service providers

HYDERABAD: Call drops continue to affect mobile phone users in Hyderabad and will continue to do so unless steps are taken to improve infrastructure and build more cell phone towers.

A study published recently by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) highlights certain service providers that are ranked low in terms of connection maintenance. According to the report, in the AP circle, the 2G services of Aircel and Tata GSM in the July-September 2015 period have more than 3 per cent rate of call drops.While the rate of call drops in the former was noted at 4.48 %, the latter recorded 3.35% drops.

For 3G services, the rate of call drops was highest in Aircel (0.69%), followed by BSNL (0.67%), the TRAI study said.

However, cellular service providers in the city say there is a need for more cell phone towers to ensure stable connectivity. “We need more cell phone towers to ensure that there is proper call quality or sustenance of a call once it connects,“ said a service provider.

According to the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), there are as many as 6,500 cell phone towers in the city. And, as reported in these columns earlier, the civic body has cut the power supply to 245 towers as they failed to pay the Telecommunication Infrastructure Tax (TIT).Officials say there needs to be at least 15,000 to 20,000 towers.

However, telecom operators and infrastructure providers rue the delay in acquiring permission from the authorities concerned.“When it comes to things like site acquisition or government permission, there must be a single-window cell that can accord permission to infrastructure companies. What we have seen is that there is no timely clearance of our files,“ Tilak Raj Dua, senior director, Tower and Infrastructure Providers Association (TAIPA), told TOI.