Congestion Concerns – TRAI monitors points of interconnection

Given the concerns over the drop in the quality of service (QoS) offered by operators, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has been monitoring the level of congestion at the point of interconnection (PoI) between various service providers on a monthly basis. Citing congestion at the PoI as one of the key reasons affecting the quality of service, TRAI has put in place a benchmark to establish the ease with which a customer of one network can communicate with a user of another network. This parameter also reflects the effectiveness of interconnection between two networks.

The benchmark, notified by TRAI in the QoS Regulation of July 2005, is less than 0.5 per cent. This effectively means that out of 200 calls between two operators, only one call should face a congestion problem.

TRAI has been monitoring the PoI congestion frequently. The result of the monitoring reveals that in a number of areas, the degree of congestion is alarmingly high. In fact, in several cities, the level of congestion between the networks of different operators is far higher than 0.5 per cent. Also, the number of places with such high levels has been increasing over the months.

The report for the period JanuaryMay 2006 shows that the number of PoIs with congestion increased from 390 in January to 616 by May. According to TRAI, the reason for the PoI congestion is the inadequate number of junctions between the networks, which leads to loss of calls, and consequently, poor quality of service to consumers.

Taking note of the TRAI report, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), the incumbent in most circles, has issued an order to prevent delays in providing PoIs to private operators. It has asked private operators to pay only 25 per cent of the port charges while seeking interconnection from BSNL and pay the balance when it has been provided. The service providers also need to provide estimates of the number of PoIs required in different circles a year in advance. This, hopefully, will help mitigate the problem of high network congestion.