New Delhi: India holds the dubious distinction of its people having greater access to cell phones than toilets. While advances in mobile phone technology and the influx of foreign players has offered more choices to users, service quality has been deteriorating over the years. Call drops during conversations have become a recurring issue even as India has now more than 97 crore cellphone users but only 4 lakh mobile towers to cater to them.
In a country with one of the highest number of cell phone users in the world, one would not expect such issues to arise.
Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad recently censured telecom giants Vodafone and Aircel for not meeting call benchmarks in the capital but added that more towers are needed to fix the problem. However, there are growing concerns about the harmful effects of radiations emitted by cellphone towers.
"Connectivity will always be a problem if people oppose installation of towers," Prasad said.
Even though more mobile towers can improve efficiency but the Madras High Court recently asked Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to look into alternative options to mobile towers, as there are reports of concerns over radiation.
There are growing concerns in residential areas over radiation. "Mobile towers stand over our heads. We are very troubled by their radiations," said a resident of Nathupur village in Gurgaon near Delhi.
TRAI has set 2% as the permissible limit for call drops and Prasad has warned operators that they must deliver the services that consumers pay for. But beyond the tough talk, little is being done to fix the problem.
Service providers are unable to set up towers at optimal sites due to objections from individuals and RWAs. Signal levels are lower in India as it adopted a radiation standard, which is one-tenth the current international standard. There is no single-window clearance for setting up a mobile tower which causes delay. Service providers also complain of the lack of spectrum available.
There are proposals to hold telecom service providers accountable for frequent call drops which mobile phone users face by imposing a penalty. However, service providers have their own issues. The telecommunication sector was given the status of infrastructure in 2013 but experts feel the government has not passed the benefits of that designation to the sector.
Even though cell phone connectivity has reached the narrowest lanes in India, it seems it will be a while before quality connectivity is established.
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