Network OperatorsTelcos say consumers to blame for call drops

Telcos say consumers to blame for call drops

Telecom operators are now blaming consumers for call drops, pointing fingers at low-quality or grey market handsets. It made this assertion during the ongoing Supreme Court hearing while against TRAI’s compensation scheme.

Kapil Sibal, COAI and AUSPI’s lawyer, told the Supreme Court that 36% of all call drops are consumer-related. According to him, the problem will occur if a customer uses a grey market or inferior quality phone. Even in cases where the device is powerful enough to draw a signal, the mobile tower may be too far away.

Man Holding A Phone

Sibal went on to continue this blame game, citing a survey which asserted that 67% of call drops were due to signal failure, something which he says cannot be laid at the feet of service providers. Instead, he considers a combination of tall buildings, jammers in high security areas, restrictions in border regions, and a busy network as the reasons behind this figure.

As per India Today, Sibal doesn’t even think the 7% of call drops attributable to telecom brands are actually its fault. He argued that not being allowed to erect towers and damage to underground fiber optic cables due to digging by civic agencies are the real culprits.

Also Read: Telcos urge TRAI to delay call drop scheme

Defending his client’s position, Sibal says that there can’t be a zero tolerance policy for call drops since a 100% issue-free environment is impossible. Furthermore, he claims network players have never crossed the 2% benchmark for call drops. This assertion will be tested soon, with the Supreme Court demanding it submit an undertaking declaring that it has never crossed this limit.

This might prove tricky for telecom operators given the results of a recent survey. The study has found that call drop rates in India are much higher than the rest of the world. According to the PTI report, the average rate of the problem in India stands at 4.73% as opposed to the global standard of 3%.

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