Minister of Communications and Information Technology Ravi Shankar Prasad has said that all telecom operators have been warned to resolve call-drop issues as soon as possible. This statement comes in lieu of users’ demands that calls dropped should not be billed. Call drops across the country have been on the rise for quite sometime now.
The minister said, “There is a problem about call drops, but the situation is improving”. He added that the department of telecommunications has been reviewing the situation regularly over the last two months. Meanwhile, Rakesh Garg of the DoT has been communicating with telecom companies about fixing the issue.
USER TALK
“See, call drop is a problem and there can be no opinion other than the network should repair it ASAP and the dropped call should not be charged.” – Rahul Bagchi
In their defense, mobile operators have said that about 7,000 to 10,000 tower sites are locked or shut down in most urban centers. They want a policy that would allow them to install towers.
Understanding the scarcity of towers, the DoT ministry has asked every government building to allow installation of a tower. All post offices in India would also be asked to lease space for these installations. A letter of suggestion has been sent to all state chief ministers, requesting them to support these changes.
While answering questions at a Delhi event, the minister added, “The complaint against call drops and that against tower radiation cannot go together.”
He also had a word of advice for telecom providers. He suggested that instead of collecting customers, they should optimize their network, synchronize and invest in it.
