DoT and TRAI take collaborative measures to enhance experience of Telecom users

Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) are taking collaborative steps to enhance the user experience of users of telecom services. Several measures have been initiated in this regard to enable spam free quality telecom service with high speed data.

To curb the menace of spam calls, TRAI has directed telecom operators to disconnect and blacklist entities using bulk connections for spam calls, including robocalls and pre-recorded calls. In the last fortnight over 3.5 lakh such numbers have been disconnected and 50 entities have been blacklisted. In addition, around 3.5 Lakh unused/ unverified SMS headers and 12 Lakh content templates are blocked.

The DoT launched a citizen centric platforms, Sanchar Saathi (https://sancharsaathi.gov.in), to fight cyber fraud, enabling citizens to report suspicious calls & messages. Till date more than one crore fraudulent mobile connections disconnected with the help of Sancharsaathi. Further, 2.27 lakh mobile handsets have been blocked for involvement in cybercrime /financial frauds.

In parallel, with an objective of improving the network performance, benchmarks are to be gradually tightened for key network parameters like network availability, call drop rates, packet drop rates, etc. In this regard, TRAI has released its revised regulations, “The Standards of Quality of Service of Access (Wirelines and Wireless) and Broadband (Wireline and Wireless) Service Regulations, 2024 (06 of 2024)’.

These regulations will come into effect from October 01, 2024 and from 1st April 2025 monthly monitoring of QoS performance of mobile service will be started instead of quarterly basis. Revised QoS benchmark for few important parameters as per new regulation are given below.

Parameter	Benchmark and Schedule for Reporting (Quarterly/Monthly)
Cumulative Down Time	( % age of Cells not Available for the service for more than 1 Hr at a time) ≤2%                    Quarterly w.e.f.:                          QE Oct-Dec 2024 ≤2%                    Monthly w.e.f:                              April 2025 ≤1.5% / ≤1%    Intermediate Milestones:      Oct 2025/Oct 2026
Worst Affected Cells due to Down Time	(%age of Cells down more than 24 Hrs in a Month) ≤2%                    Quarterly w.e.f.:                          QE Oct-Dec 2024 ≤2%                    Monthly w.e.f:                               April 2025 ≤1.5%/≤1%     Intermediate Milestones:        Oct 2025/Oct 2026
Drop Call Rate (DCR) for 2G and 3G	≤2% percentile basis for whole network Quarterly w.e.f.:                         QE Oct-Dec 2024 (for 88% of cells on 88% of reporting days) Monthly w.e.f:                           April 2025 ( for 88% of cells on 88% of reporting  days) Intermediate Milestones:       April 2026/April 2027 ( for 89% of cells on 89% of reporting  days/ for 90% of cells on 90% of reporting  days)
Drop Call Rate (DCR) for 4G and 5G (Packet Switched)	≤2% percentile basis for whole network Quarterly w.e.f.:                          QE Oct-Dec 2024 (for 92% of cells on 92% of reporting days) Monthly w.e.f:                              April 2025 ( for 92% of cells on 92% of reporting  days) Intermediate Milestones:       Oct 2025/Apr 2026/April 2027 ( for 93% of cells on 93% of reporting  days/ for 94% of cells on 94% of reporting  days/for 95% of cells on 54% of reporting  days)
Downlink Packet Drop (DLPD) Uplink Packet Drop (UPPD)	≤2% percentile basis for whole network   Quarterly w.e.f.:                        QE Oct-Dec 2024 (for 88% of cells on 88% of reporting days) Monthly w.e.f:                            April 2025 ( for 88% of cells on 88% of reporting  days) Intermediate Milestones:      Apr 2026/April 2027 ( for 89% of cells on 89% of reporting  days/for 90% of cells on 90% of reporting  days)
Latency ( 4G & 5G Network)	≤75 msec Quarterly w.e.f.:                               QE Oct-Dec 2024 ≤75 msec  Monthly w.e.f:                                 April 2025 ≤50 msec Intermediate Milestones:         April 2026
Packet Drop rate (In 4G & 5G Network)	≤3% Quarterly w.e.f.:                        QE Oct-Dec 2024 ≤3% Monthly w.e.f:                            April 2025 ≤2% Intermediate Milestones:      April 2026

Complete regulation is available at:  https://www.trai.gov.in/sites/default/files/Regulation_02082024.pdf

The TRAI has also issued consultation papers on provisions of immediate suspension of services of Unregistered Telemarketers on receipt of complaints beyond a pre-defined threshold number, and implementation of proactive detection and action on suspected spammers.

The DoT and the TRAI have been continuously engaged towards enhancing telecom services and security in India, through policies, ensuring infrastructure development, quality of service, and complaint redressal.