Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) is currently in talks with private telecom operators regarding the possibility of jointly setting up interconnect exchanges for routing telephone calls from one network to another. The aim: to bring down the level of congestion at the points of interconnection (PoIs) between the different operators.
This is against the current practice of passing a telephone call from one network to another directly at the PoIs between the two networks. It is also the first concrete attempt to reduce the level of network congestion at the PoIs between operators. The PSU feels there should be at least one interconnect exchange in each circle in order to make the exercise effective. However, the plan is still at a nascent stage and its execution may require an investment of Rs 1-1.5 billion.
The problem of congestion and poor quality of service has become a serious issue in the past one year. The substantial increase in call drops, breaking calls and poor connectivity has made the regulator step in and pull up the concerned operators. The operators, in turn, have pointed to the lack of spectrum and interconnectivity issues as reasons for the slide in service quality.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) quality of service (QoS) report, which monitors the level of congestion at the PoIs between various service providers on a monthly basis, is an indicator of this trend. In the QoS Regulation of July 2005, TRAI notified a benchmark of <0.5 per cent on this particular parameter. This means that out of 200 calls between two operators, only one call should face congestion problems. The QoS report for October-November 2005 reveals that the number of places where PoI congestion is more than the benchmark of <0.5 per cent is above 400. Of these, 201 PoIs show a congestion level of more than 10 per cent, that is, 20 times above the benchmark. The number of such PoIs where the level of congestion is more than 10 per cent has increased from 153 in August 2005 to 193 in September/October to the current figure, indicating a declining trend.
According to TRAI, the worst-affected PoIs are those where the congestion level is 40 per cent or more. Uttar Pradesh (East), Patna, Lucknow, Jaipur and Gujarat are some of the areas that are facing alarmingly high rates of network congestion, mostly at the PoIs with BSNL.
On their side, service providers claim that their inability to provide good service quality stems from the lack of adequate PoIs with BSNL, especially in the nonmetro areas. According to the director-general of the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), T.V. Ramachandran, “The factors for non-compliance are totally out of the operators’ control.
But the regulator is not convinced. According to TRAI, a significant amount of the congestion is on account of inadequate junctions (towers and cell sites) between two networks and the sluggishness of operators to set up the requisite number of cell sites. Consequently, in an attempt to jolt the operators into action, TRAI had on November 29, 2005 issued a directive to cellular mobile service providers (CMSPs) asking them to ensure that the QoS, including the level of PoI congestion in the networks, is strictly within the benchmarks specified by the authority, by December 31, 2005.
This has provoked a fresh round of discord between the regulator and the operators. Apart from blaming the poor QoS on the lack of interconnection with BSNL, the COAI also cited spectrum as a deterrent to QoS improvement. Cell sites, which should ideally be 600-800 metres apart to ensure non-interference in calls, are currently within 100 metres of each other due to inadequate spectrum. This results in the poor quality of calls. The accompanying table shows the number of cell sites that each of the top three cellular operators had as of September 30, 2005, against the total number of circles they operate in.
TRAI feels that spectrum is not an impediment in ensuring QoS. Wherever requests for additional spectrum are pending, till it is made available, the service providers should increase the efficiency of spectrum utilisation through various techniques like deploying more sites, synthesised frequency hopping, multi-player architecture, smart antennas, etc. to ensure that the QoS benchmark is met.
Deployment of these techniques on the other hand requires greater investments which, according to the operators, translate into higher call rates.
Thus, despite huge investments in the sector, poor QoS continues to be a cause for concern. Joint efforts, like those initiated by BSNL to resolve issues like interconnection, are a step towards improving the QoS for the end-user.
