Cellular Operators Association of India on Monday urged the Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT to also hear out operators including Airtel, Idea and Vodafone for a fairer assessment of call drop situation in the country.
COAI, along with Reliance Jio has been asked to appear before the Standing Committee on Information Technology scheduled to be held on Thursday to address the issue of quality of service and call drops.
“We respectfully suggest that in order to assist the Committee in this important exercise, the other members of COAI namely, Airtel, Idea, Vodafone, Aircel and Telenor and the members of AUSPI be also called to depose before the committee and furnish all relevant information and data for the consideration of the committee,” said COAI in a letter to Anurag Singh Thakur, chairman of Standing Committee on IT.
COAI said that many of the issues pertaining to the subject “are best explained by individual member companies, who are also licensees, as these issues lie within the ambit of bi-lateral commercial agreements between members.”
“Additionally, networks and technologies vary among members and they are best situated to explain some of the nuances involved.
“Hence, we would respectfully request that with the objective of obtaining a full, complete and fair understanding of the matter under discussion, all member companies of COAI and AUSPI be called to present before the Standing Committee on IT,” said COAI.
Meanwhile after Trai suggested a hefty penalty on incumbent operators over interconnect issue, telecom ministry has sought Attorney-General’s opinion on whether it has the authority to impose penalty for breach.
