‘DoT to start ranking operators on service quality to curb call drops’
The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) plans to introduce a ranking system for telecom operators to tackle the problem of dropped calls, telecom secretary Aruna Sundararajan said in an interview. Under the plan, customers will be able to rate their network provider and name-andshame them for poor service, Sundararajan said, adding, the current level of quality of service cannot be allowed and the government plans to send a strong signal to telcos to clean up their act. Edited excerpts.
What is the government doing to curb dropped calls?
We want to signal a high level of concern to the players. I cannot say at this point of time that we have done any sort of satisfactory job on the quality of service. We now want to keep up sustained pressure on the telcos and they have to be accountable. This is not a sporadic thing. It is happening frequently and everywhere. They need to wake up. Their first duty is to the customer... In the first meeting, we are going to give them a very clear signal and after that we are going to put them on watch and monitor it strictly.
Can DoT penalise telcos?
Quality of service is the domain of the regulator. DoT would not like to rush in there. But at the same time, government has to be responsive to the needs of the customer. We are also trying to see whether we can introduce a ranking by consumers and look at the grievance that we are getting from the consumer and find a way of feeding that back to the telcos.
In the new policy, this is one of the things, can we start having some measure of ranking so that then these people (telcos) will not be able to get away with saying that we have done whatever can be done.
What would be the parametres for such ranking?
There is a group working on that. One will be a set of objective parameters. But we also want customers to rank their service provider. And then kind of ‘name and shame’ them. We need to do that because all these lovely advertisements are fine, but at the end of the day if your service is so poor how does that help.
NEW DELHI:
Telecom Commission okayed some relief measures for the sector... Are you still getting grievances from the industry?
No, not yet. I think the big focus now is on consolidation. With the spectrum caps being removed, that has removed a big constraint. So next three months will be focussed on completing the mergers and consolidations.
Revenue is a big concern. There was no auction in 2017. At the regulator’s open house, telcos said that the timing may not be right for an auction. How does the government look at that picture?
This department is not primarily a revenue earner. This department is intended to provide telecom services. Right now, quality of service is a main concern for us and also to ensure that there is proliferation of internet. This is the key concern, revenue is a secondary concern.