TRAI says telecom connectivity improved in Dec '07

New Delhi, Mar 17 (UNI) Telecom watchdog TRAI today said the connectivity between the two mobile service providers has improved during December 2007 as compared to September 2007.

During the period, telecom mobile subscriber base has increased from 209 million in September 2007 to 233 million in December 2007, it said.

The number of point of interconnections (POIs) having congestion has decreased from 348 in September 2007 to 315 in December 2007.

The benchmark notified by TRAI in the QoS Regulation of July 2005 for this parametre is 0.5 per cent. This means out of 200 calls between two operators only one call should face congestion problem.

Out of these 315 POIs in December 2007, in 153 POIs, the level of congestion is more than five per cent as compared to 158 POIs in September 2007.

The number of such POIs where the level of congestion is more than 10 per cent is 105 in December 2007, whereas it was 111 in September 2007.

The number of worst affected POIs where congestion level is more than 40 per cent is 26 in December 2007, whereas it was 37 in September 2007.

In respect of POIs from private CMSPs to BSNL, the number of POIs having congestion has decreased from 217 in September 2007 to 203 in December 2007.

During the same period, POI congestion among Private CMSPs has also decreased from 129 in September 2007 to 108 in December 2007.

Amongst the private service providers, Reliance Communications has the largest number of POIs having Congestion (134 POIs as of December '07) followed by Bharti Airtel (57 POIs as of December '07), Dishnet (36 POIs as of December '07), Vodafone (27 POIs) and Tata (22 POIs).

The Circles/States more affected due to POI congestion are Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan and West Bengal.

UNI MP SBA RK2132