Telecom minister blames people for call drops

Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha on Thursday said people have to be blamed for call drops as they were objecting to installation of mobile towers in their locality fearing radiation.

"We need to think out a technical solution for this (call drops). It does not matter what we do -- launch Tarang Sanchar portal, organise seminars, create awareness that radiation causes no disease but there are some people who are involved in proving us wrong," Sinha said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during his review of the telecom sector on Wednesday, is learnt to have raised the issue of call drops and sought immediate remedy.

"Everyone knows that for good connectivity you need good infrastructure and for that towers and BTS (base tower stations) are required but there are some people who want connectivity without installing the towers," Sinha said.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India earlier this month imposed penalties on major telecom operators, including Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, Vodafone and Idea Cellular for the poor quality of service.

Govt space

Though call drops have not stopped, the situation is improving by the day. The government wants more improvement, he said and added that the government has offered its premises for installation of mobile towers so that connectivity does not suffer for want of sites.