Most telcos failed Trai's call drop test, improvement in Delhi

Most of the telecom operators, including state-run MTNL, failed random drive tests conducted by the regulator Trai to check quality of their network and services as part of its efforts to rein in call drop menace. As per the test report released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) today, none of telecom operators showed improvement in call drops in Mumbai, Pune and Bhubaneswar. The regulator conducted drive tests during December-January period.

As per 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 networks of companies. State-run MTNL was the worst performer in Mumbai and Delhi, where it operates.

MTNL 3G network reported call drop at 15.58 percent level in Mumbai and 23.65 per cent in Delhi. For Pune, call drop on Tata's 3G network was as high as 42.93 per cent followed by that of Idea Cellular with 20.96 percent. The 2G network of Idea Cellular in Pune was also worst performer in its category with 18.97 percent call drop.

In Bhubaneswar, where all operators failed tests, maximum call drop was witnessed on Aircel's 3G network and on RCom's 2G CDMA network. In Delhi, Airtel's both 2G and 3G network and 3G networks of Idea and Vodafone were compliant to call drop benchmark. Similarly, in Kolkata only CDMA network of MTS, Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications (RCom) were compliant to call drop benchmark while other operators failed to meet the benchmark.