With call drops becoming more frequent and a perceptible slide in the quality of service (QoS), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has expressed concern over the increasing level of congestion, especially in the metros. The authority, which has been monitoring the level of congestion at the points of interconnection (PoIs) of various service providers, has brought out a report on the congestion levels experienced by private mobile operators during the period October to December 2006, benchmarked against its prescribed limit. The benchmarks define the ease with which a customer of one network is able to communicate with a customer of another network.

The benchmark notified by TRAI in the Quality of Service Regulation of July 2005 has been pegged at <0.5 per cent, which indicates that out of 200 calls between two operators only one should face congestion problem. As per the report, there has been little improvement since June 2006 and in a number of areas, the degree of congestion between the operators is way above the prescribed limit.

Based on the data furnished by mobile operators, TRAI’s report for the three months highlights the following points:

  • The number of PoIs facing congestion increased from 483 in September 2006 to 526 in October.
  • In circles like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the number of PoIs facing congestion increased.
  • In December 2006, the level of congestion was more than 5 per cent in 199 PoIs as compared to 274 PoIs in September 2006.
  • The number of PoIs in which the level of congestion was more than 10 per cent in December was 137, an improvement over 204 PoIs in September 2006.
  • The number of PoIs in which the congestion level was more than 40 per cent also came down to 39 in December as compared to 60 in September. The circles/states most affected by PoI congestion were Bihar, Assam, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, the Northeast, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh (East), Orissa, Gujarat, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Jammu & Kashmir.
  • The congestion at PoIs between private operators from BSNL has decreased from 366 in September 2006 to 300 in December. During the same period, PoI congestion among private mobile operators also decreased from 117 to 89.

    • According to TRAI, since the congestion in the network is on account of inadequate circuits between the two networks, which leads to loss of calls and consequently, poor quality of service to consumers, operators need to correct this problem by installing enough PoIs in collaboration with BSNL and other operators. Earlier TRAI had issued directions for providing interconnection within 90 days from the date of payment. However, TRAI’s power to do so has since been challenged in the TDSAT.