Tuesday 1 November 2016

Government planning platform for customer feedback on call drops: Minister

Communications Minister Manoj Sinha on Tuesday said the government is planning to set up a platform in the next one month through which subscribers can directly give their feedback on call drops.

"We are setting up a platform through which the consumers will be able to directly give their feedback to the government, especially regarding call drops," Sinha told reporters.

He was briefing media after holding a meeting with telecom service providers CEOs on the call drop issue.

About the 100-day plan floated by the operators where they had assured that 60,000 base transceiver stations (BTS) will be set up with an investment of Rs 12,000 crore, the minister said: "They have met the target of setting up 60,000 BTS... rather exceeded that target."

Bharti Airtel has installed 22,000 BTS, Idea Cellular, 25,382 and Vodafone, 13,870, the minister said, adding that Reliance Jio, which was not part of the 60,000 BTS plan, has additionally set up 35,000 BTS.



Sinha said call drops should be wiped out from the country.

The telecom operators also discussed the next phase of action for better services with the minister.

"Consumers are of paramount importance. They should not be affected," the minister added.

Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI) Director General Rajan S Mathews said: "Most operators have executed the 100-day plan that was submitted to the Communications Minister Manoj Sinha, and the results are evident in the decreased numbers of call drops in the country."

"The industry has stood by its commitment of spending Rs 12,000 crore to improve network quality. It will continue to invest more and augment its current outlay to ensure that people are given the best quality of service, particularly for those areas where connectivity is still a challenge. We are working closely with all concerned authorities to ensure processes are expedited so that towers can be installed at locations where there is a need," he added.
-Source IANS