DoT to soon meet telcos on call drop issue: Ravi Shankar Prasad

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad today said the Department of Telecom (DoT) will soon call a meeting of all service providers to look into the problem of frequent call drops being faced by customers. “I have asked my officials to call a meeting of all service providers regarding call drops faced by customers,” Prasad told PTI. Operators will be asked to improve quality of service, he added. A group of BJP MPs have also complained to the Minister regarding frequent ‘call dropping’, excess billing and non-transparency by some private telecom operators. The parliamentarians demanded action against the private telecom operators after proper investigation and alleged that the companies were not hearing complaints of the customers. Mobile phone users have been complaining about the call drops, but telecom operators have not lived up to their expectations to rectify the problems and provide a good communication network. Instead, the operators, cite lack of spectrum and hurdles of not allowing installation of mobile towers in residential areas due to radiation issues for call drops. Prasad, on several occasions, has said that the lack of spectrum is no excuse for not resolving the frequent problems of call drops on their networks. He had also said if consumers continue to raise concerns about quality of service, then he would bring the issue to the notice of telecom regulator Trai for its consideration. PTI