TRAI asks telcos to furnish details on active base stations
Move to reduce call drops, bring in more transparency
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has come across a large number of cases where telecom operators had high call drop rates but reported that the base station in that area “did not exist” to meet the quality of service benchmarks.
Telecom operators are allowed to report a base station as “did not exist” if the particular site is under repair or decommissioned.
DROP CALL RATE
In a bid to bring in more transparency, TRAI has asked telecom operators to give details about active base stations and those which are decommissioned.
Telecom operators are allowed to report a base station as “did not exist” if the particular site is under repair or decommissioned
“While analysing the drop call rate matrix, that large number of circumstances reported to the authority for DCR, which are as high as 6.3 per cent, are under the DCR code ‘DNE’ (Does not exist).
“To have a clear view of the
status of BTS/node(s) operations, the details of the date of commissioning or de-commissioning of base stations/ nodes, are essential to verify the use of correct DCR code,” TRAI said in a circular.
The regulator has further asked telecom operators to furnish details of the type of connectivity-fibre/wireless/ others for each base station because the quality of delivery of service of any base station is also dependent on the capacity of back-haul connectivity.
Operators have also been told to provide details of 5G base stations in their respective networks.
“A considerable number of 5G sites have been commissioned by various service providers, and services are being o¢ered to the large base of consumers. Therefore, the details of such 5G base stations and cells are essential for assessment of quality of service,” TRAI said.
Operators have been told to furnish these details within 21 days after the end of every quarter.