New towers in defence areas can curb call drop menace: COAI

The blame game on call drop continues, with the government on Tuesday rejecting the telecom operators' claim that call drops were linked to the national tower policy.Telecom secretary Rakesh Garg accused the telecom companies of not doing enough to tackle the call drop menace.In reply to the government's reaction, the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) maintains that it does not want to get into an adversarial position with the TRAI on the issue.Speaking to CNBC-TV18, Rajan Mathews, Director General of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), says there is siginificant amount of cantonment land in major cities and towns on which they are unable to put up any towers, so far."Just today five of our sites have been sealed by East Delhi municipality; possibly another 10-15 go down with it because they are linked together," he says, adding, "If you go from the airport in Delhi all the way down you will notice significant properties belonging to the defence but on which we can't put up towers and will have drop calls there, no coverage."Though, he says now the government is supporting COAI in trying to locate and put cell towers even in congested locations over the next 30-90 days and the companies have agreed to submit improvement reports to DoT on a weekly basis.Below is the transcript of Rajan Mathews’s interview with CNBC-TV18's Shereen BhanQ: Yesterday you put on a show of strength and today the government is having nothing off it saying the measures taken by the telecom industry to bring down call drops have been inadequate, that not enough has been done and that the government will not shy away from penalties. How would you respond to that?A: First of all let us understand that both the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the operators have one common objective which is to address and take care of the consumer's problems of dropped calls.We did meet with the DoT secretary yesterday, all of our CEOs did and we explained the situation and we said let us work together, where there are issues on our side we will be happy to address this. We welcome if necessary the TRAI's investigation of our rating plans. They do that on a quarterly basis, they can continue to do that and we need to not to get into an adversarial position on this but a cooperative position because only if we work together can we solve the problem for the consumer.Q: But I am sorry to interrupt you. Isn't it already an adversarial issue because yesterday the telcos were talking about how not enough weight is being put behind a national telecom tower policy. Today the government is saying hey, the telecom companies are not doing enough, in fact they failed miserably at putting adequate measures in place. So, it is already adversarial, how do we move forward from here?A: I don't say that it is adversarial because the DoT and the minister has been very supportive about our efforts about to address one of the most significant problems that we are facing which is the issue of cell tower and cell site locations as well as the whole issue of Electro Magnetic Frequency (EMF).So, both of those areas have become areas where we are working with the government and so we will work continuously.One of the areas they have agreed to is the matter of the policy. We have said listen the guidelines which have come from the DoT need to be reduced to an impossible policy. Our fight is not with the central government, our consternation is with the local issues. Just today five of our sites have been sealed by East Delhi municipality. These are the type of issues we face every day. When five sites go down possibly another 10-15 go down with it because they are linked together. This is what we face every day, this is what we need to address.Q: I don't know how long it is going to take for the government to put together a national telecom tower policy. The government now seems to be suggesting that you should use government land to put up cell towers. Is that really a feasible, viable option at this point in time?A: Absolutely yes. This is one of the things that we have talked about. Just take for example the amount of cantonment land on which we are unable to put up any towers today. You look at all of our major cities and towns where a significant cantonment land from which we have precluded from putting up any cell tower. If you go from the airport in Delhi all the way down you will notice significant properties belonging to the defence but on which we can't put up towers. You will have drop calls there, no coverage. So, the government has supported us in trying to locate and give us opportunities to put cell towers in these locations and we appreciate that.