(2016-17) Sixteenth Lok Sabha Ministry of Communications
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STANDING COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (2016-17) 38 SIXTEENTH LOK SABHA MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS (DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS) ISSUES RELATED TO QUALITY OF SERVICES AND REPORTED CALL DROPS THIRTY-EIGHTH REPORT LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT NEW DELHI April, 2017/ Chaitra, 1939 (Saka) THIRTY-EIGHTH REPORT STANDING COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (2016-17) (SIXTEENTH LOK SABHA) MINISTRY OF COMMUNICATIONS (DEPARTMENT OF TELECOMMUNICATIONS) ISSUES RELATED TO QUALITY OF SERVICES AND REPORTED CALL DROPS Presented to Lok Sabha on 11.04.2017 Laid in Rajya Sabha on 11.04.2017 LOK SABHA SECRETARIAT NEW DELHI April, 2017/ Chaitra, 1939 (Saka) CONTENTS Page Composition of the Committee (iii) Abbreviations (iv) Introduction (vi) REPORT PART- I I. Quality of Service Regulations 1 (i) Legal provisions 1 (ii) Evolution of QoS Parameters 1 II. Issue of Call Drops 4 (i) Quality of Service Benchmark for Call Drop 4 (ii) Effectiveness of service level monitoring 9 (iii) Monitoring of quality of service and call drop 11 (iv) Factors responsible for call drop 14 a). Call Drop due to consumer fault 17 b). Sub- standard mobile handsets 19 (v) QoS Benchmark for 4G and Data Services 20 (vi) Hon’ble Supreme Court Judgment against TRAI Regulations 21 (vii) TRAI proposal for Amendments in the TRAI Act 22 (viii) Public awareness regarding EMF radiation 24 (ix) Investment on Network Expansion 25 (x) Issues related to Spectrum 29 (xi) Fulfillment of Spectrum Roll out obligations 30 (xii) Installation of Towers, Right of Way (RoW), provision of 24/7 power backup, 32 billing and interference related issues (i) a). Setting up of Towers in Government buildings 32 b). Shutting down of towers by local agencies 34 c). 24/7 power backup and Introduction of Green Energy 37 d). Installation of unauthorized signal boosters 42 e). Accuracy of metering and billing 44 f). Technology to mask call drop 47 (xiii) Grievance Redressal Mechanism 49 (xiv) Development of Consumer Engagement Application 52 III. Points of Interconnection (PoI) 53 (i) Issues relating to Interconnection Agreement 59 (ii) TRAI recommendation for imposing penalty 63 IV. Free Services and Predatory Tariff Structure 65 PART- II Observations/Recommendations 69-101 Annexure QoS parameters for Basic (Wireline) services, 2G & 3G Services 102-106 Appendices I. Minutes of the Tenth sitting of the Committee (2015-16) held on 16th June, 2016. 107 II. Minutes of the Second sitting of the Committee (2016-17) held on 20th October, 2016 110 III. Minutes of the Third sitting of the Committee (2016-17) held on 10th November, 2016 113 IV. Minutes of the Fourth sitting of the Committee (2016-17) held on 28th November, 2016 116 V. Minutes of the Seventh sitting of the Committee (2016-17) held on 19th January, 2017 120 VI. Minutes of the Eighth sitting of the Committee (2016-17) held on 27th January, 2017 124 VII. Minutes of the Sixteenth sitting of the Committee (2016-17) held on 10th April, 2017 127 (ii) COMPOSITION OF THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY (2016-17) Shri Anurag Singh Thakur - Chairperson Lok Sabha 2. Shri L. K. Advani 3. Shri Prasun Banerjee *4. Shri Harish Dwivedi 5. Dr. Sunil Gaikwad 6. Shri Hemant Tukaram Godse 7. Dr. Anupam Hazra 8. Dr. Jayakumar Jayavardhan 9. Shri P. Karunakaran 10. Shri Virendra Kashyap 11. Shri Harinder Singh Khalsa 12. Shrimati Hema Malini 13. Shri Keshav Prasad Maurya 14. Dr. K.C. Patel 15. Shri Raosaheb Danve Patil 16. Shri Paresh Rawal 17. Dr. (Shrimati) Bharati Shiyal 18. Shri Abhishek Singh 19. Shri D.K. Suresh 20. Shri Ramdas Tadas 21. Shrimati R. Vanaroja Rajya Sabha 22. Shrimati Jaya Bachchan 23. Shri P. Bhattacharya 24. Shri Suresh Gopi 25. Shri Prabhat Jha 26. Shri Santiuse Kujur 27. Shri Derek O’Brien 28. Shrimati Kahkashan Perween 29. Dr. K.V.P. Ramachandra Rao 30. Dr. Vinay P. Sahasrabuddhe 31. Shri Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar Secretariat 1. Shri R.S. Kambo - Additional Secretary 2. Dr. Preeti Srivastava - Joint Secretary 3. Shri Y.M. Kandpal - Director 4. Dr. Sagarika Dash - Additional Director 5. Shri Shangreiso Zimik - Under Secretary ______________________________________________________________________ * Nominated to the Committee w.e.f. 19.10.2016 vide Bulletin Part-II dated 19.10.2016. (iii) Abbreviations AGR Adjusted Gross Revenue BTS Base Transceiver Station CBBH Cell Bouncing Busy Hour CoW Cell-On-Wheels COAI Cellular Operators Association of India CPGRAMS Centralized Public Grievance Redress and Monitoring System DG Diesel Generators EMF Electro Magnetic Field EMR Electromagnetic Radiation GSM Global System for Mobile IVRS Interactive Voice Response System IJRASCT International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology IUC Interconnection Usage Charge KPI Key Performance Indicators LWE Left Wing Extremist LSA Licensed Service Area LTE Long Term Evaluation MNRE Ministry of New and Renewable Energy MoUD Ministry of Urban Development NLD National Long Distance OHD Open House Discussion PoI Points of Interconnection QoS Quality of Service RAN Radio Access Network RLT Radio Linked Timeout RIO Reference Interconnect Offer RESCO Renewable Energy Service Company RET Renewable Energy Technology RWAs Resident Welfare Associations RoW Right of Way RTT Roof Top Towers SSAs Secondary Switching Areas SDCA Short Distance Charging Area SPV & SPV-wind hybrid Solar Photo Voltaic TDSAT Telecom Dispute Settlement and Appellate Tribunal TRAI Telecom Regulatory Authority of India TSPs Telecom Service Providers TEC Telecommunication Engineering Centre TERM Telecom Enforcement Resource Monitoring TCBH Time Consistent Busy Hour (v) TCH Traffic Channel USOF Universal Service Obligation Fund VSAT Very Small Aperture Terminal WOL Wireless Operating License WMO Wireless Monitoring Organization (iv) INTRODUCTION I, the Chairperson, Standing Committee on Information Technology (2016-17), having been authorized by the Committee to present the Report on their behalf present the Thirty-eighth Report on ‘Issues related to Quality of Services and reported call drops’ relating to the Ministry of Communications (Department of Telecommunications). 2. The Standing Committee on Information Technology (2015-16) selected this subject for detailed examination and report to the Parliament. The examination of the subject could not be completed during the term of the Committee (2015-16). In view of the importance of the subject and considering the need for wider consultation, the Standing Committee on Information Technology (2016-17) re-selected the subject for further examination and to complete the unfinished task. 3. During the course of examination of the subject, the Committee took evidence of the representatives of various Telecom Service Providers and organizations, such as Bharti Airtel, Vodafone India Limited, Idea Cellular Limited, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, Aircel Limited and Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI). The Committee also took evidence of the representatives of the nodal Department/Regulator i.e. the Department of Telecommunications and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). 4. The Committee at their sitting held on 10th April, 2017 considered and adopted the Report. The Committee wish to express their thanks to the representatives of the Department of Telecommunications (Ministry of Communications) and TRAI who tendered their evidence before the Committee and furnished the valuable information. The Committee also wish to express their sincere thanks to the representatives of various TSPs/organizations for appearing before the Committee and furnishing written information/views, which was of great help to the Committee in arriving at conclusions. 5. The Committee also place on record their appreciation for the invaluable assistance rendered by the officials of Lok Sabha Secretariat attached to the Committee. 6. For facility of reference and convenience the Observations/Recommendations of the Committee have been printed in bold in Part-II of the Report. New Delhi; Shri Anurag Singh Thakur 10 April, 2017 Chairperson 20 Chaitra, 1939 (Saka) Standing Committee on Information Technology (vi) REPORT PART-I I. Quality of Service Regulations (i) Legal provisions Quality of Service (QoS) is an important parameter for telecom services. Sub- Clause (v) of clause (b) of sub-section (1) of section 11 of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Act, 1997 (24 of 1997) mandates the Authority to ‘lay down the standards of quality of service to be provided by the service providers and ensure the quality of service and conduct the periodical survey of such service provided by the service providers so as to protect the interest of the consumers of telecommunication services’. In the discharge of these functions and in order to (i) create conditions for customer satisfaction by making known the quality of service which the service provider is required to provide and the user has a right to expect, (ii) measure the Quality of Service provided by the Service Providers from time to time and to compare them with the benchmarks so as to assess the level of performance; and (iii) to generally protect the interests of consumers of telecommunication services, the TRAI, in exercise of its functions under the above provisions in the TRAI Act, had notified the ‘Regulation on Quality of Services (QoS) of Basic and Cellular Mobile Telephone Services, 2000’ vide Notification dated 5th of July, 2000. The benchmarks for these QoS parameters were to be achieved in three stages viz. (i) in the short term before the end of 12 months, (ii) in the medium term before the end of 24 months; and (iii) in the long term of 36 months for cellular and 48 months for basic service operators. (ii) Evolution of QoS Parameters 2. The Quality of Service (QoS) standards in the above regulation were reviewed in 2005, keeping in view the performance of service providers against the QoS standards, the international standards on QoS and utility of the laid down QoS parameters. Based on the review of QoS standards undertaken by the Authority in 2005, the QoS standards 1 were revised and the revised QoS standards for Basic Service (Wireline) and Basic Service (Wireless) & Cellular Mobile Telephone Service were issued by the Authority on 1st July, 2005.