Will resolve call drop problem at the earliest: Vodafone

New Delhi, Nov 15: Unhappy over its own service standards, Vodafone India has said it will resolve the call drop problem at the earliest to provide best experience to its customers. The company said it is working on a war footing to improve the network and add more sites.

"We are very unhappy at our own service standards, this is not our usual, which we provide anywhere else in the world. We would like to resolve this issue and provide the best customer experience at the earliest," Vodafone India Managing Director and CEO Sunil Sood said.

He, however, said the service is improving and every week, the company is adding 20-30 sites in Delhi.

Across the country, Vodafone has added 7,000 sites in the last six months, Sood added. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) last month mandated that telecom companies from January 1 should compensate users at the rate of Re 1 per dropped call, with a ceiling of three dropped calls per day (or Rs 3 per day).

The industry, however, maintains that implementing the regulations would cause a huge financial outgo, a reason not accepted by the regulator.

Trai said it is technically possible for the operators to implement the regulation and termed the claim of Rs 54,000 crore per year on account of call drop compensation as "exaggerated". It put the likely figure at Rs 200 crore per quarter.

On Trai's regulations, Sood said the industry is in talks with the regulator and the government and is hopeful of a solution.

"We are working on a war footing, we have actually opened in Delhi called war rooms... we have identified that we need 290 sites in Delhi to resolve the issue and we are trying our best how to get each one these 290 sites," Sood said.

Asked about consolidation and if Vodafone is in talks with any company, Sood said as a company, they have always said they will acquire more spectrum to provide better quality services and that additional spectrum could be acquired from means like acquisition or means like trading or sharing or auction.

"We are open to talks with any company as long as financially it makes a sound business case. Many people have approached us but we can't say anything has happened yet," Sood added.

PTI