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’.