TRAI Finds Telecom Service Quality Across City ‘Acceptable’

Area-wise breakdown, however, reveals quality issues
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has found the quality of service provided by telecom service providers (TSP) across Hyderabad within acceptable limits. However, area-wise data suggests otherwise.

Test over complaints

Last week, TRAI published a report of a drive test, used to measure various call parameters along a specific driving route, alongside test results from four other cities — Chandigarh, Gangtok, Shimla and Srinagar.

The test in Hyderabad was performed by a third-party service provider between April 9 and April 18.

In its report, TRAI stated that the test was conducted in response to complaints on network quality issues. In Hyderabad, the voice test was conducted along a 960-km route while the data test was conducted at 10 locations. 2G, 3G, VoLTE and CDMA services from seven TSPs were tested.

Findings suggested that the drop-call rate (DCR) and block-call rate, among the important quality of service parameters, were within acceptable range of 2% and 3% respectively, across Hyderabad.

However, the drop-call rate for Tata’s CDMA service was 6.23% in the test, higher than the acceptable benchmark.

While TRAI stated all but one TSP met the DCR and the Call Setup Success Rate of 95% benchmark in Hyderabad, a breakdown of data area-wise suggests quality issues in certain pockets.

For instance, in the Hitech City cluster, 2G subscribers of Airtel, BSNL, Idea and Tata’s CDMA service are likely to experience drop calls as the DCR in that cluster is lower than the required benchmark, ranging from a slight low of 2.04% (Idea) to a significant 6.08% (BSNL and Tata CDMA).

Also, the Rx Quality, which is a parameter measuring the quality of voice, was lower than the benchmark 95% for 2G subscribers of BSNL, Idea and TATA CDMA in Hitec City.

BSNL and Idea 3G testing in the cluster also revealed DCR lower than the benchmark.

3G testing in Banjara Hills, another upmarket cluster, revealed DCR was lower than benchmark for BSNL, Idea and Telenor. Telenor’s block-call rate in Banjara Hills was at 6.17%, higher than the acceptable 3 % benchmark.

Lower than standard

Four service providers, including 3G services of Airtel, Idea, Telenor and the VoLTE service of Jio, were found having lower-than-standard Rx Quality in Banjara Hills.

Besides Banjara Hills and Hitec City, other clusters which were part of the drive test route covering the city included Nizampet, Kukatpally, Bolarum, Moula Ali, Dilsukhnagar, Secunderabad, Mehdipatnam, Kismatpur, Kothapet Village and L.B. Nagar. – The Hindu