In recent times, several issues pertaining to Quality of Service (QoS) in Telecom Networks all over the country, viz., frequent call drops, consequent inflated billing, non-transparency in the billing have been raised in the Parliament including by way of Calling Attention Motion, in various public forums as well as in the media.
To have a comprehensive review of the issues, a meeting of all the Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) in the country was yesterday in the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). The meeting was chaired by Rakesh Garg, secretary (Telecom) & chairman, Telecom Commission.
The secretary (Telecom) briefed the Telecom Service Providers about the falling perception in the public with regard to poor Quality of Telecom Services in the country in general and with special emphasis on degrading Quality in Metros. It was indicated to the TSPs that the public in general is highly dissatisfied with frequent and heavy call drops during the calls throughout the day and not confined to peak calling hours which shows poor quality of the telecom networks.
The TSPs were also told about the perception of the public that such call drops are deliberate attempts by the TSPs to have multiple charging and consequent commercial gain. It was also noticed that the billing by TSPs is not transparent and there are frequent changes in the package rates, contrary to initial agreed upon package, without any consent of the customer. In case of international roaming, TSPs do not have any warning system about the tariffs to be charged for various applications, e.g., data download which result in many complaints of heavy charging of the customer. There have been frequent complaints of charging even though the customer has already disconnected or has not used the services of the TSPs.
The TSPs assured to look into the billing complaints on priority basis and set up a transparent system to educate the customers about various tariffs being charged so that the billing complaints are minimized. The TSPs also highlighted the delay in acquisition of new sites for additional towers because of fear of EMF radiation in the public, closure of existing tower sites because of local bodies’ regulations and delay in getting permission from local bodies for laying/ repair of cables etc.
Secretary (Telecom) emphasized the need for utmost integrity of the billing system and charging of the telecom customers and to bring in place a transparent and foolproof billing mechanism with provisions for timely intimation and consent of the customer to effect any changes in the tariff plan, especially in case of national and international roaming. It was also emphasized that TSPs should take further steps to educate the public about the stringent EMF norms being followed in India. It should be highlighted through seminars and public meetings that there are no harmful effects of tower radiations. The education material as well as seminars should also be conducted in vernacular languages.To improve the quality of the network to reduce frequent call drops, it was emphasized that the TSPs should optimize their RF network extensively in a regular and routine matter.
DoT has also written from time to time to various state governments, local bodies to facilitate the acquisition of tower sites, permissions for laying, repair of cables in line with guidelines issued by the Department. The TSPs should also follow the guidelines issued by local bodies in this regard. He emphasized that in no case these can become shield for poor service in the public perception and all the TSPs should take all possible steps to improve the quality of service and deal with customers’ complaints promptly.
All the TSPs assured to take all necessary measures to bring transparency in the billing system and to improve the overall quality of telecom services in the shortest possible time.
