July 30, 2024, New Delhi: The latest LocalCircles national survey on mobile network quality released a few weeks ago found that 9 in 10 Indians were regularly facing call drops and call connection issues. Last week, LocalCircles took up the subject in a meeting with the telecom regulator, TRAI, and one of the discussion items was how the poor quality of mobile network was impacting digital transactions and the Government’s Digital India efforts.

Around the same time earlier this year when LocalCircles initiated its “Call Drop and Connect” survey, it had also initiated another survey to quantify the impact of poor mobile network quality on digital transactions. This survey received over 39,000 responses from consumers located in 329 districts of India. 64% respondents were men while 36% respondents were women. 44% respondents were from tier 1, 34% from tier 2 and 22% respondents were from tier 3 & 4 districts.

85% indicated that they use their mobile data connection to conduct financial transactions like digital payment, online banking, etc.

The first survey question asked users of mobile internet services, “How many times in a month do you use your 3G/4G/5G mobile data connection to conduct financial transactions like payments/ banking, etc.?” Out of 13,241 respondents to this query, 85% indicated that they use their mobile data connection to conduct financial transactions like digital payment, online banking, etc. The data shows that 27% use mobile data more than 30 times a month for payments/ banking, etc.; 19% of respondents use it 16-30 times a month; 24% of those surveyed use it 5-15 times a month and 15% use it 1-4 times or rarely. In addition, 12% of respondents stated that none of their transactions are done using broadband/dsl/ fiber connection, while 3% of the respondents did not give a clear response, opting for “can’t say”. To sum up, 85% of 3G/4G/5G connection users who conduct digital payment/banking transactions are using their mobile data connection to do so.

Compared to a similar survey done in 2022, before the roll out of the 5G, those doing one or more digital financial transactions using their mobile data connection has risen sharply from 62% to 85% currently, in a matter of 24 months.

75% of 3G/4G/5G connection users face either frequent disruptions or speed issues on a regular basis

People often face issues like getting to websites/apps or transactions getting stalled or not getting initiated due to poor network quality, which is very frustrating given the major rise in dependency on digital platforms and payments. To find out the reasons, the next question asked respondents, “What is your top issue when browsing /transacting on the internet via 3G/4G/5GN data connection?” Of the 13,119 respondents, one in three identified “frequent disruptions due to poor network”; 42% pointed to “low speed” of the internet connection whether through the mobile network or broadband connection; 4% to other issues and 21% indicated “can’t say”. In total, 75% of the respondents indicated problems with the mobile data connection as the reason why they are unable to conduct online financial transactions or trouble-free internet browsing. However, it appears in the last 24 months there has been considerable reduction in the percentage of 3G/4G/ 5G connection users from 92% in early 2022 to 75% currently who face frequent disruption or speed issues when browsing or making digital transactions using mobile data. In effect, the percentage of 3G/4G/5G connection user who face frequent disruption or speed issues when browsing /transacting has reduced by 20% in the last 24 months some of which may be attributable to transition to 5G services.

58% of respondents indicated that they have faced problems with their mobile data connections several times in a month leading to disruption in their digital payment or online banking transactions

The last question in the survey will strike a chord with many consumers who have been placed in a fix when the mobile data connection fails during a financial transaction. This can often have financial implications. It asked respondents, “When you are attempting to transact using 3G/4G/5G mobile data connections, what percentage of your digital transaction don’t happen each month due to poor network quality and you have to resort to alternate mechanism (cash, cheque, card) or via broadband/ wifi to conduct the transaction?” Out of nearly 13,000 respondents to this query, 58% indicated that they have faced such a situation several times in a month. Of the total respondents, 40% indicated they have faced such a problem up to 10% of times, 8% up to 10-20% times and another 8% have faced it 20-50% times, which quite defeats the purpose of making convenient and transparent financial digital transactions via mobile phone. There were however 35% among the respondents who stated that they “don’t remember facing 3G/4G/5G connection issues leading to not being able to conduct a transaction” and 7% who opted for “can’t say”. To sum up, 58% of 3G/4G/5G connection users who conduct digital payment/banking transactions said they experience 1 or more disruptions each month due to poor data network quality.

In comparison with the 2022 survey when 68% of those surveyed admitted to having a problem with their mobile data connection leading to one or more disruption when conducting mobile financial transactions, currently it has come down to 58% of those surveyed. So while there appears to be some improvement in the mobile data connectivity it is not significant enough and hence there is an urgent need to address network problems that lead to disruption in digital payments/ online banking transactions. The new survey shows that the percentage of 3G/4G/5G connection users who experienced 1 or more disruption due to poor data network quality while conducting digital payments/ banking transaction has reduced by 10% in the last 24 months.

In summary, while there is some improvement in the quality of mobile internet experience of consumers surveyed, the fact remains that 75% of the respondents indicated problems with the digital connection whether 3G/4G/5G, which is why they are unable/ rely on online financial transactions or trouble free internet browsing using their mobile data connection. Given that 85% of respondents in the survey have indicated that they use their mobile data connection to conduct financial transactions like digital payment, online banking, etc., more than once a month, it is important that the authorities ensure that telecom service providers pay more heed to the quality of service rather than only increasing the subscribers. As it is, 58% of respondents have indicated that they have faced problems with their mobile data connections several times in a month leading to disruption in their digital payment or online banking transactions. The need of the hour here is for the regulator TRAI to step in and work with operators to improve Quality of Service so digital financial transactions aren’t disrupted. With use of cash reducing and banks charging a fee for cash transactions and withdrawals, consumers have no option but to use digital transactions and it is the responsibility of the Government to ensure digital connectivity is available through the length and breadth of the country.

LocalCircles will share the findings of this survey with TRAI, RBI, MEITY and any other stakeholder who may need to intervene in addressing digital connectivity disruptions or improving the mobile network quality.

Survey Demographics

The survey received over 39,000 responses from consumers located in 329 districts of India. 64% respondents were men while 36% respondents were women. 44% respondents were from tier 1, 34% from tier 2 and 22% respondents were from tier 3 & 4 districts. The survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform and all participants were validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.