Telcos to meet TRAI to discuss declining quality of service parameters today

The quality of 4G and 5G services has declined in recent times with users complaining about the lack of network coverage for the most part of a day even after upgrading their devices to experience faster data speed on 5G-compatible smartphones.

Community media platform Localcircles, in its recent survey on 4G and 5G call and data quality, found 32% of respondents saying that they either did not have network coverage or experienced intermittent connections despite paying for the services, and only 26% of mobile subscribers experiencing good network coverage for both voice and data for all the operators at home location.

Localcircles said the survey received 42,000-plus replies from across India.

About 69% of the survey participants said they faced issues with connections and experienced call drops on a daily basis. In fact, 20% faced call connectivity issues for more than 50% of the calls. Only 5% subscribers surveyed said their workplace had good voice coverage from all telcos.

“These are extremely concerning findings and present a quality of service scenario that must be addressed on priority by the regulator and three operators. While consumers may be willing to wait for improvement in 5G services, the 4G service quality needs immediate attention of all the stakeholders,” said Sachin Taparia, founder of LocalCircles, which shared the findings of its prior surveys on 5G services, pesky calls and SMS, call drops and fixed line issues with the Department of Telecommunications, as well as the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI),

TRAI reportedly said that 5G infrastructure will take time to pick up, and will be at 15-20X by the end of 2023, but service quality of 4G has been a concern and it is trying to address the issue with the operators.

DoT has also urged TRAI to revise the quality of service parameters for improving services for consumers. Telcos will meet TRAI officials on Friday to discuss the quality of wireline and wireless services, along with an action plan to improve the standards for 5G services, and unsolicited commercial calls. Livemint