DoT, Trai told to look into call drop masking tech

Telecom minister moves after report alleges misuse

Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Monday directed the Department of Telecom (DoT) to look into the call drop masking technology being used by mobile service providers.

“I have taken up this issue seriously. I have directed that the department, along with the Telecom Regulatory Authority India (Trai), to take up this issue seriously,” Prasad told reporters here. 

To avoid criticism over poor service quality, mobile operators are reportedly taking refuge in a new technology — Radio-Link Technology (RLT)  — to “mask” call drops that shows a call as remaining connected even when the network connection is lost.

In such cases, the customer often disconnects the call himself, which is not counted as a  call drops, the companies, however, continue to charge customers.

 Earlier, the call used to get automatically disconnected in case the user moved to an area with poor network, making it a 'dropped call' under the current regulatory framework.

While his department is looking into the issue, the minister said the telecom industry has installed about 1 lakh mobile sites in the last 8-10 months to improve service quality.

Asked about steps taken by the government to empower consumers, Prasad said Trai is studying the issue and will try to address problems related to the quality of services by telecom service providers.

If Trai comes up with acceptable suggestions, the government will consider it, he said.