Telcos Dispute Trai's Findings on Call Drops

Disputing Trai's data that found mobile operators having failed on call-drop tests, the companies on Friday said their figures tell an opposite story and asked the telecom regulator to withdraw its test reports.

The operators argued that Trai's data, which were published on the regulator's website on Thursday, do not portray the actual performance of their networks and there was a wide divergence between the results of the tests done by them and those by the regulator.

Questioning the findings of the audit on call drops done at the behest of Trai, the telecom players, through industry bodies COAI and AUSPI, have justified their position, saying their own drive test reports are at odds with the regulator's.

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), most telecom operators, including state-run MTNL, failed random drive tests conducted by it to check quality of their network and services as part of its efforts to rein in the call drop menace.

As per the test report, none of telecom operators showed improvement in call drops in Mumbai, Pune and Bhubaneswar.

The operators contended that the results put up on the website do not provide the actual picture as results of the quality of service (QoS) parameters varied.

"This is despite the fact that tests were conducted on the same routes and using the same methodology as adopted by the Trai-appointed agencies," the letter said.

The letter further said even though its member operators' comments, along with drive test reports depicting the contrary results, have been published on the website, these do not find any mention in the reports of the agencies appointed by Trai, which "gives out a wrong impression to the public".

On their part, the operators have asked for drive test logs and other details from the regulator, but so far Trai has not obliged.

"It is disappointing that instead of providing the logs to telecom service providers, Trai has chosen to publish our request to provide the logs. This method of publishing unratified drive test reports and operator comments alongside is misleading, incorrect and misrepresentative of actual performance of QoS parameters of the member operators' network," the letter said.

It added that this will only lead to confusion resulting in "wrong perception" and may hurt the brand image of mobile operators.

The letter spoke of the need for reconciliation between 'operator-assisted drive tests', which are supervised by the same very auditors, and the independent drive test results.

"It is extremely important that we (both the regulator and the operator) reconcile the large variance between the two test results for any meaningful outcome and actionable steps," it added.

The operators are of the view that unless the logs are shared and analysed, the results should not be published.

The regulator had conducted drive tests during December-January this fiscal on select routes of seven cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, Surat, Bhubaneswar and Indore, and shared the findings with telecom operators.

As per the Trai benchmark, not more than 2 percent calls on a telecom operator's network should get automatically disconnected. The regulator conducted tests on both 2G and 3G network of companies.

The operators also sought change in methodology in conducting the drive tests.

"In order to ensure a comprehensive view of network, the drive test should be conducted within the municipal boundaries of the city and should cover all the major routes and should not be limited by the number of route kilometre," it said.

The letter said that in the meeting with CEOs of telecom companies, Trai had agreed to involve the operators at every stage of the exercise, including the route finalisation, and during testing.

"Going forward, if it is intended to conduct these drive tests regularly, it is all the more important that we have a detailed discussion on the points raised by us and arrive at a mutually-agreed understanding regarding the routes to be chosen, total drive test tools and methodology before further rounds of testing," it suggested.