Four reasons why call drops happen

Communications and Information Technology Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has recently said that the situation is improving as far as call drops is concerned. But end users continue to bear the brunt with the menace of call drops refusing to go away. In a special audit conducted by the government, it was found that 34,600 cell towers are operating poorly, out of which about 16,962 have improved their performance, and the rest are in progress.

Experts argue that the call drop issue cannot be resolved in a jiffy. It requires long-term solutions like putting up more mobile towers, allotment of more spectrum to telecom companies, and frequent maintenance of cell towers.

Here are four reasons why call drops happen:

• Lack of cell towers: There are about 425,000 cell towers in the country. Telcos say lack of towers is the main reason for call drops. A lot of RWAs (residential welfare associations), especially in metros, are against putting up cell towers in their vicinity due to fear of radiowave signals causing harm.
• Low spectrum availability: In India, the spectrum available per telecom operator is low compared to other countries. For instance, the average spectrum available per operator in India is only 18 MHz, according to the Global Mobile Operators' Association, far lower than the global average of 50 MHz.
• Lack of punitive action for poor service: The government is contemplating ways to penalise telcos for call drops, but the discussions are still at a very early stage. The problem of call drops is not new, and the penalty guidelines should be drafted as soon as possible.
• Telcos unwilling to make sufficient investments: Burdened with high debt, telecom operators in India are unwilling to make investments that can support the rising voice traffic. With the emergence of 4G and upgrade of the existing 3G networks, telcos often compromise on making investment for voice infrastructure.