Call Drops: Lottery for Fraudsters…!!!

TRAI has mandated TELCOs to pay subscriber Rs.1 for each call drop, subject to cap of three call drops a day, starting from January 1, 2016. In spite of many letters sent to TRAI by COAI to withdraw its order, TRAI stands by its decision and told TELCOs to get themselves ready for compensation to customer.

What exactly a Call Drop is???

Wiki defines call drop as, ‘A wireless mobile phone call that is terminated unexpectedly as a result of technical reasons, including presence in a dead zone. In technical terms, it is called as an abnormal release’.

This is one of the hottest topic over media and news because of recent rise in call drop rates.

TRAI’s stand:

·         TELCOs are solely responsible for the increasing call drop rate

·         Number of cell sites built by TELCOs are insufficient to support ever increasing mobile traffic

TELCOs’ stand:

·         The piece of spectrum that has been allocated to them is very less

·         Local authorities creating hurdles to build cell site in densely populated areas by raising health concerns of radiation

Lottery for FRAUDSTERS…!!!

As there will be compensation of maximum Rs.3 per day for call drops, the chances of frauds will increase.

Possible fraud scenario:

The increase in call drop may increase dramatically as some subscribers will deliberately drop the call by entering into so called ‘dead zones’ in networks to get Rs.3 every day.

Even though each call last for average of 20 seconds they will be charged 60 paise for three call giving benefit of Rs. 2 and 40 paise per day.

In case of 1% call drops are accepted, TELCOs will be required to pay out a minimum of Rs.1083 crore a year. This will badly affect the average revenue per user (ARPU) in INDIA which is currently around Rs. 120.

Dead zones may include:

•   Basements of building
•   Remote areas in rural part
•   Inside the house where signal strength is very low

So this will create a golden opportunity for fraudsters to earn some money every day. This will be counted under Usage category of fraud.

Possible Drivers for this Fraud:

•   Recent decision by TELCO of per second charging add fuel to this fraud fire.  
•   Unavailability of proper system to supervise the call drop at TELCOs end
•   Fear of churning out of customers 

Recommendations:

•   If TELCOs implement per minute charging, this fraud will be neutralized
•   They should have proper supervisory system in OSS/BSS
•   Try to plug the dead zone by use of more small cell technologies such as Femto cell and Pico cells

TELCOs should take the preventive action before this drama of compensation starts.

In the end I would like to mention a quote by Sir Albert Einstein, ‘If I had an hour to solve a problem and my life dependent on it, I would use first 55 minutes determining the proper question to ask’.

IPTV vs DTH: TV WAR

IPTV: A provision through which TV services are delivered using the IP suite over a LAN or the Internet.

The video in the form of IP packets is sent over the existing broadband infrastructure and assembled at consumers’ end with the help of a set top box (STB).This is beneficial for broadcasters as they can offer the ‘triple play’ service of voice, data and TV over the same network, using the same infrastructure.

For the IPTV to be in full-fledged functioning stage, IMS implementation in the transport layer of operator’s network is very much essential.

Definition of IPTV by the International Telecommunication Union is:

 “IPTV is defined as multimedia services such as television/video/audio/text/graphics/data delivered over IP based networks managed to provide the required level of quality of service and experience, security, interactivity and reliability”

Features of IPTV:

• Time Shift: We can watch last 7 days programs and it can be auto recorded.
• Live TV Controller: Rewind, pause and play even while watching live TV broadcast.
•  Video on Demand (VOD): We can Rewind, fast forward, pause and play the latest blockbusters as per our convenience. It is like watching movie on DVD player.
• All weather broadcasting: Unlike DTH, IPTV is a wired connection and provides an all-weather, un-interrupted broadcasting experience.

Challenges for IPTV:

•  Still in the stage of infancy
• High bandwidth requirement which creates hurdle for broadcasting hundreds of channels simultaneously.
•   Delay while changing channel as request goes to content server.

IPTV deployment in India is the deployment of IPTV services over DSL, ADSL, ADSL2+ network infrastructure owned by operators like BSNL, MTNL & Airtel and Reliance.

Direct to Home (DTH):

This is the common name of Satellite TV where the signal in Ku band is received using dish antenna installed in user’s premises.

Signal in the encrypted form from satellite is received by these variable sized antennas. Unlike IPTV, there is no intermediate operator between the broadcaster and the viewer. This industry comprises of seven operators viz. Dish TV, Airtel Digital TV, Tata Sky,Sun Direct, Reliance Digital TV, Videocon D2H and DD Direct.

Subscriber base in India at year 2014-15 was 73.06 mn.

Features of DTH:

• ·          MPEG4 quality or DVD quality digital transmission.
• ·          Interactive services to interact with the TV.
• ·          Movie On Demand,

Challenges for IPTV:

• ·         Loss of signal due to heavy rains and storms
• ·         Regulatory concerns

Main Issue of war

• ·         Operators are aggressively promoting DTH services and not IPTV services. If IMS-based IPTV gets deployed it will attract many subscribers which will result in churn out of DTH subscribers.
• ·         Companies are playing safe and waiting to see the results of IPTV launch of some of the existing companies.
• ·         Operators are waiting for the broadband infrastructure to grow and be IPTV ready.

The price issue gives a different perspective to this scenario; higher prices of IPTV as compared to DTH is the main drawback. By looking at price sensitive market of India, any comment over this cannot be confidently put as of now. But consumers who are willing to pay more for better quality and ease of access of TV will show inclination towards IPTV.

With the uninterrupted signal and dynamic services offered, IPTV will overcome its low weighing basket of concern about cost. If full-fledged functioning of IPTV happens, then we may see the total paradigm shift of scenario and possibility of the whole DTH industry going for toss.

Nexus 5!!! Possible Features….

Nexus 5!!! Possible Features….

This time contract of Nexus for its upcoming model ‘Nexus 5’ has been given to LG and Huawei. It is expected that Google will unveil not one but two Nexus 5 smartphones in 2015.

Possible Features of ‘Nexus 5’ by LG:

1.      5.2-inch P-OLED display with 1080×1920 full HD resolution

2.      Snapdragon 620 processor

3.      4 GB of RAM

4.      64 GB in built storage

5.      Bluetooth 4.2, NFC, Wifi

6.      13MP rear, 4MP front camera

7.      Rear-placed power button with fingerprint sensor

Possible Features of ‘Nexus 5’ by Huawei:

1.      5.7 QHD 1440×2560p

2.      Metal Unibody Design

3.      21MP rear camera

The release of these phone is expected in October or November (3Q2015). These will be the first phone having Android M, the next version of Google’s OS.

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