Cellular congestion getting worse: TRAI
By agencies   |   Wednesday, 18 January 2006, 20:30 IST
Printer Print Email Email
NEW DELHI: Cellular operators are unlikely to meet the deadline set by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) to improve the quality of service. The report released by TRAI for the month of November 2005, shows that the congestion levels have further worsened compared to previous months with no sign of any improvement. According to the report, the number of cities where the level of congestion is more than benchmark has touched 404. In 201 cities the level of congestion is more than 10 percent of the permissible limit. TRAI had earlier issued a directive that all mobile operators should bring the congestion levels across the country to permissible levels by December 31, 2005. The benchmark notified by TRAI for this parameter is less than 0.5 percent. Though the official report for December will be released next month, indications are that the cellular operators are nowhere near achieving the set benchmark. Cellular operators are blaming lack of proper interconnection with BSNL as the primary reason for the high congestion levels. Proper interconnection with BSNL is important since it is the largest telecom operator in the country with more than 60 million subscribers. TRAI has been monitoring the level of congestion at the point of interconnection (POI) between various service providers on a monthly basis.

siliconindia