Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has criticized private network operators for increasing their user base while ignoring the need to improve service quality, which is currently very bad. He made the statement during a Rayja Sabha session, where he also asserted that the government will take stern steps to address the issue of call drops.
Prasad claims to be taking the matter seriously, stating that the call drop problem has not been sincerely tackled with for the past 2 or 3 years. He says he has asked all the private telecom brands in India to better their infrastructure and is currently monitoring its progress. The Minister said even the heads of Vodafone and Airtel have admitted it was a sizable issue which has to be resolved.
As per PTI, Prasad commissioned a survey which found that out of the 18 lakh privately-owned mobile towers in India, nearly 35000 were faulty. 20000 of them were subsequently repaired, while 15000 are yet to be fixed. Furthermore, he believes the government’s pressure on network players has resulted in the installation of 14000 new sites, with over 700 of it being in Delhi alone.
The Communications Minister went on to reaffirm TRAI’s call drop penalty order, saying it will the Rs 1 fine will be implemented from January 2016 as planned by the authority. According to Prasad, government-owned network provider BSNL is in operating profit for the 1st time in 5 years. It was apparently profitable up until 2004 during the NDA’s reign but has since been in loss during the UPA years.
Also See: Ravi Shankar Prasad strikes back at Congress, blames party for call drops
Ravi Shankar Prasad further claims BSNL has supposedly set up 25000 new cell towers across India within the last 1 month.