Network OperatorsTRAI and telecom CEOs will discuss call drops on October 29

TRAI and telecom CEOs will discuss call drops on October 29

TRAI has organized a meeting on October 29 to discuss the call drop compensation scheme with the CEOs of telecom operators in India. The initiative was passed a few weeks ago and has not been received well by providers.

Rajan Mathews, the director general of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), confirmed the gathering with TRAI was taking place at noon on October 29. The network companies are expected to release a joint letter on October 27. It supposedly contains a list of issues the operators have with the call drop payback scheme.

Call Drops

The document is their first plan of attack to facilitate negotiations and will be signed by players such as Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications, Idea and Tata Teleservices. An industry insider told the Economic Times the letter would cover various loopholes the brands are planning to clarify during the meeting with TRAI.

For example, it asks whether a service provider would have to pay a consumer in cases where their battery has died or if they enter an elevator. It will also question how TRAI determined the level of call drops across India based on their findings in Mumbai and New Delhi alone. The legality of the measure will also be discussed, since telecom licenses do not require companies to compensate customers.

Also See: TRAI asks telcos to pay users for call drops, Rs 2 lakh fine for poor service

Industry executives further asserted that problems such as the timeframe and implementation of the new guidelines would also be up for debate. The operators are not likely to bring up the subject of the revised penalty system TRAI introduced recently. According to a source, this matter would be more suited to court proceedings.

Analysts claim call drops do not constitute more than 2% of the total calls in the country. If the compensation program is followed through, it could result in a 5% decrease in the EBITDA estimates of Airtel.

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