TRAI lays down norms for QoS

NEW DELHI: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has finalized the

parameters for assuring quality of service (QoS) in basic and cellular

telephony. The norms, which have been released in the form of a regulation, are

expected to come into effect from July 5. The norms have been finalized after

conducting open house discussions in various parts of the country, receiving

feedback from operators, individuals and associations as well as releasing a

consultation paper on QoS. TRAI defines QoS as "the main indicator of the

performance of a telephone network and of the degree to which the network

conforms to the stipulated norms. The subscriber’s perception of QoS is

determined by a number of performance factors."

TRAI was reconstituted recently under the TRAI Amendment Act 2000, where its

recommendatory and dispute settlement powers were bifurcated. The function of

the reconstituted TRAI will be to make recommendations to the government about

the number of players, the timing and conditions under which operators will be

allowed to enter the market. The reasons stated by TRAI for laying down the

parameters for QoS "is to create conditions for customer satisfaction by

making known the QoS which the service provider is required to provide and the

user has the right to expect."

The regulation includes parameters relating to fault incidence and repair,

network performance parameters, billing complaints and customer perception to

both basic and cellular services. Provision of telephone within a specified time

frame is considered an essential QoS parameter for basic services. However, this

norm is applicable only in those areas where telephone on demand is available.

All operators will be asked to maintain a waiting list on non-discriminatory

basis and the telephone connection shall be released accordingly. TRAI shall

measure network performance like dial-tone delay, grade of service, and call

completion rate on a sample basis.

In addition to the QoS parameters mentioned in the license agreement for

basic services, additional parameters relating to the percentage of repeat

faults have been added to keep track of maintenance quality. According to TRAI,

it has been monitoring some of these QoS parameters over two years and has taken

into account the trends while finalizing the parameters.

The regulation parameters are only a beginning and over a period of time,

these would be refined and increased. It is expected that along with the

technology, the quality of equipment and networks owned by different service

providers and the quality of maintenance will also improve.

TRAI chief MS Verma clarifies that there will be no penal actions for

non-compliance of these norms but that the endeavor of the Authority will be to

ensure that the norms are adhered to. It will be done by regularly publishing

the status of norms and its adherence by various service providers.

In the case of cellular services, since all networks are new, all operators

will be placed on an equal footing. TRAI may consider publishing a comparison of

their performance in terms of quality parameters provided by it. To ensure

prompt redressal of billing complaints specifically in the cellular segment, the

regulation provides for time bound redressal of complaints and consequent refund

if any.