The Department of Telecom (DoT) has shown urgency on telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad’s suggestions to minimize mobile call drops. The DoT has written to telecom regulator Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) to suggest a disincentive mechanism to tackle the issue of frequent call drops.

Mobile phone users have been complaining about frequent call drops but the telecom companies have remained deaf to their demands.

Last week, Prasad had told the private operators to work on the mechanism to minimize call drops.

"We have asked Trai to analyze the issue and suggest what kind of in-built disincentive mechanism could be used for call drops," telecom secretary Rakesh Garg has said. 

The DoT is also working on disincentive architecture or any alternative way on the matter. It could be in the form of giving free minutes to customers in lieu of call drops.

The secretary said telecom players need to follow the service quality benchmark set by Trai.

The operators have been blaming "scarcity of spectrum" and hurdles in installing mobile towers in residential areas. Many residential localities do not allow towers due to fears of radiation issues.  However, the minister had said shortage of spectrum is no excuse for call drops.

Meanwhile, the telecom commission finalised the rules for telecom companies to share and trade spectrum.

These rules will be sent to the cabinet by the end of this month and a draft note will be circulated among ministries to get their inputs on the same.

If the government allows both sharing and trading of spectrum, it will be a major boost for telecom companies. The move will enable companies to monetise idle resources and improve efficiency. Telecom companies now share only passive infrastructure like telecom towers.