July 15, 2024, New Delhi: Promise of better and faster connectivity through more investment is yet to be realized but late last month all the three major telecom service providers i.e. Jio, Airtel and VI increased tariffs by 10-25%. The Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has clarified that telecom service providers (TSPs) have raised mobile service prices after more than two years as “some of the TSPs have invested heavily in rolling out the 5G services across the country. This has resulted in a significant increase in median mobile speed to the level of 100 Mbps….” However, consumer complaints about poor network quality continue to mount at almost the same rate.

Taking note of the rise in call drop complaints from subscribers, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) had announced plans to review existing quality of service (QoS) rules to measure network performance at the district level and bring 4G-5G services also under its ambit. In a statement issued in August 2023, the telecom authority said complaints about call drops and other network related issues have​ risen after the rollout of 5G services. After detailed analysis of quarterly QoS performance reports, it has noted that due to long performance assessment period of a quarter over a large area like Licensed Spectrum Access (LSA), there may be pockets or areas experiencing poor quality of service due to averaging effect while service providers are meeting overall QoS benchmark at LSA level. TRAI stated that the proposed change will help respective state/UT governments in facilitating service providers in improving QoS in the State /UT as and when required.

The telecom regulator is reported to have expressed disappointment that even with the technological advancement in mobile telecommunications and advancement in performance management tools, the quality of experience (QoE) of consumers has not improved as expected though such quality of service (QoS) requirements is supported by technology standards. "Even with widespread coverage of 4G networks in the country and rollout of 5G services, there are an increasing number of complaints of call drops, call muting, low data throughput, etc., which raises question marks on the network design and provisioning of required network resources," Trai said. The regulator has proposed to tighten call drop parameters, call success rate, etc., under the quality-of-service rules.

The regulator stressed that the Standards of Quality of Service for Wireless Data Services were notified in the era of 2G and 3G services wherein data services were delivered over circuit-switched networks and their QoS performance benchmarks were set based on the capability of underlying technology. At present, packet core networks with LTE (4G), LTE-Advanced and 5G technology constitute more than 75% of the telecom network in the country. It said that the present QoS benchmark envisages latency to be less than 250 milliseconds (ms) for wireless data services and less than 120ms for wireline broadband service which are not in sync with the requirement of present-day applications."The QoS parameters and benchmarks for voice and data services are technology agnostic in present regulations. The relevant terminology for 5G services has also been updated in draft regulations to monitor QoS performance of 5G," Trai said, adding that performance against some QoS benchmarks like network availability and drop call rates varies across districts.

TRAI noted that as 4G and 5G networks are providing much wider coverage in the country compared to the 2G and 3G networks, therefore stringent performance benchmarks, especially related to call drops, are proposed for 4G and 5G services to improve consumer experience. Network availability is an important requirement for good QoS.

Given the regular complaints from mobile subscribers over the last 12 months, LocalCircles has once again conducted a national survey to gauge consumers' experience with mobile networks in the last 3 months and how many times they have had to switch to data services to make calls. The survey received over 32,000 responses from citizens located in 362 districts of India. 64% respondents were men while 36% respondents were women. 44% respondents were from tier 1, 33% from tier 2 and 23% respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural districts. The survey was conducted between March and June 2024.

89% of subscribers surveyed face call connection and drop issues; 38% of them face it with over 20% of their calls

According to reports on various social media platforms, it is not only in rural areas that call drop and mobile connection problems are faced as it is commonplace even in big metros. The survey asked “In the last 3 months, approximately what percent of your mobile phone calls have had connection or call drop issues?” Out of 10,925 who responded to this query 17% indicated “over 50% of the calls”; 21% of respondents indicated "20-5​0% of the calls”; 34% indicated “10-20% of the calls” and 17% indicated “0-10% of the calls”. In addition, 7% of the respondents indicated that they “haven’t faced mobile call connection or disruption issue” and 4% of the respondents gave no clear response opting for “can’t say”. To sum up, the data shows that 89% of subscribers surveyed face call connection and drop issues; 38% of them face it with over 20% of their calls.

Call connection and call drop situation shows small improvement in the last 2 years

Comparing the survey results this year to the query “In the last 3 months, approximately what percent of your mobile phone calls have had connection or call drop issues?” to that in September 2022, shows there is marginal improvement in the quality of calls. In the case of those who have experienced problems with call connections and call drops “in over 50%” of the cases there is a dip from 19% in 2022 to 17% of respondents this year. Similarly, for those who indicated problems “10-20%” of the time, there is a slight dip from 35% of respondents to 34%. But in the case of those who have experienced problems “20-50% of the calls” the percentage drop is more from 37% of respondents in 2022 to 21% this year. The change is due to 17% of respondents indicating problems with “0-10% of the calls” and 4% of respondents opting for can’t say this year. However, from 9% of respondents who indicated no problems in 2022, the percentage has dipped to 7% this year. To sum up, call connection and call drop situation shows small improvement between the two surveys.

1 in 3 citizens surveyed indicated that they are regularly making wifi calls through OTT platforms as they face call connectivity and drop issues

Not just away from your city but even in your home/ office many people end up using the data/ Wi-Fi to make calls whether through WhatsApp, Facetime or Skype. The survey asked consumers “How often are you forced to make a data/ Wi-Fi call (WhatsApp, Facetime, Skype) because you are unable to connect via regular mobile networks?” This query received 10,764 responses with 1 in 3 citizens surveyed indicating that they are regularly making Wi-Fi calls through OTT platforms as they face call connectivity and drop issues. The survey data shows that 14% of respondents use data/Wi-Fi connections “over 50% of times”; 18% of respondents do so “20-50% of the times”; 18% of respondents do so “10-20% of the times”; 41% do so “less than 10% of the times”. In addition, 9% of those surveyed indicated that they are among those fortunate who “never (face this problem as my mobile calls always go through”.

Increase observed in percentage of citizens now making Wi-Fi calls through OTT platforms over the last 2 years as they face call connectivity and drop issues with their mobile network

As compared to the survey done in 2022, response to the question “How often are you forced to make a data/ Wi-Fi call (WhatsApp, Facetime, Skype) because you are unable to connect via regular mobile networks?” shows there is an increase in the overall percentage of those forced to use Wi-Fi/ data to make calls. In the category of those who were forced to make a data/ Wi-Fi call through WhatsApp, Facetime, Skype, etc., less than 10% of the time, the percentage has risen from 30% in 2022 to 41% of respondents this year. While those who made data/Wi-Fi call “10-20% of the times” has dipped from 28% of respondents to 18% this year, in the category of those who did so “20-50% of the times” has also slid from 24% of respondents to 18% this year, a new category of those who had to use data/Wi-Fi to make calls “over 50% of the times” has 14% of the respondents as against none in 2022. Similarly, the percentage of those who “never” had to do so has slipped from 18% of respondents to just 9%. To sum up, there is an increase in the percentage of citizens now making Wi-Fi calls through OTT platforms since 2022 as they face call connectivity and drop issues with their mobile network.

50% of citizens surveyed say their calls don’t automatically drop within 30 seconds despite a bad connection

People have varied experiences when making mobile calls. Some calls never go through with an automatic message citing the number is no longer valid or the voice transmission gets poor or disrupted in the middle of the call. The survey asked, “While talking on mobile when you have a bad connection, how long does it generally take before the call drops?” Out of 10,670 who responded to this query only 5% of those surveyed indicated that the call “doesn’t drop automatically”. However, 41% of the respondents indicated that “it drops after 0-30 seconds of bad connection”; 27% of respondents indicated “it drops after 30-60 seconds of bad connection”; 27% of respondents indicated “it usually drops after bad connection for a minute or more” and 4% did not give a clear response opting for “can’t say”. To sum up, 50% of citizens surveyed say their calls don’t automatically drop within 30 seconds despite a bad connection.

Increase in percentage of citizens reporting calls dropping automatically within 30 seconds due to bad connection in the last 2 years

A comparison of the survey response to the question “While talking on mobile when you have a bad connection, how long does it generally take before the call drops?” shows that there is an increase in the percentage of citizens reporting calls dropping automatically within 30 seconds due to bad connection in the last 2 years. Data shows that as against 22% who indicated that call “doesn’t drop automatically” in 2022, currently only 5% of respondents have indicated being so fortunate. In fact, the percentage of those who indicated “it drops after 0-30 seconds of bad connection” has risen from 26% in September 2022 to 41% of respondents now. There is a marginal increase in the percentage of those who indicated that “the call drop happens “after 30-60 seconds of bad connection” from 26% in 2022 to 27% of respondents this year. Similarly, as against 26% of respondents who indicated that the call “usually drops after a bad connection for a minute or more” in 2022, this year 23% of respondents have shared that they are continuing to face the problem, while 4% have opted for “can’t say”.

In summary, while the call connection and call drop situation has shown small improvement in the last 2 years, the 2024 survey shows that 89% of respondents still face call connection and drop issues. In fact, 38% of those surveyed face it with over 20% of their calls. The situation is such that 1 in 3 citizens surveyed indicated that they are regularly making Wi-Fi calls through OTT platforms as they face call connectivity and drop issues. Not so surprisingly, over the last 2 years, there is an increase in the percentage of citizens now making Wi-Fi calls through OTT platforms as they face call connectivity and drop issues with their mobile network. Advancement in technology, as TRAI has noted, has not helped to improve mobile connectivity. In the last 2 years, there has been an increase in the percentage of citizens reporting calls dropping automatically within 30 seconds due to bad connection. It is to be appreciated that the telecom regulator is aware of the increase in connectivity and call drop issues and is in the process of conducting quality review more frequently. It would help if the telecom operators, while being allowed to hike the tariff should also be made more accountable for the services which now come at a higher cost if the consumer migrated to what promises to be a better and faster service. For many, the mobile is not a mere device for making friendly calls as many use it as a business and study tool.

LocalCircles will escalate the findings of this survey with the Ministry of Telecommunications and TRAI for their review and interventions.

Survey Demographics

The survey received over 32,000 responses from citizens located in 362 districts of India. 64% respondents were men while 36% respondents were women. 44% respondents were from tier 1, 33% from tier 2 and 23% respondents were from tier 3, 4 and rural 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.