TRAI To Set Norms For VoLTE To Fix And Measure Poor Call Quality

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) will soon come out with norms to tackle various issues including the dreaded "call muting" problem with voice calls made data (voice over LTE or VoLTE) and also measure the quality of calls within the month, reports Mint. The consultation paper for measuring VoLTE call quality was issued in February and will be taken up on a priorty basis, said TRAI chairman R S Sharma.

Once the new norms are in place, they will be integrated into the exiting Quality of Service (QoS) norms that are issued by the TRAI.

Last August TRAI had issued new norms to curb call drops and set up a graded penalty clause for erring operators, wherein telecom companies (Telcos) who failed to meet the benchmark set in a quarter were liable for a fine of up to Rs 5 lakh. With these norms, TRAI also moved from assessing call drops at the circle level to the mobile tower level.

In January, operators urged the regulator to factor in "call muting" – a phenomenon where the call remains connected but users cannot hear each other – that was prevalent only on VoLTE networks. Following this, a consulting paper titled Voice Services to LTE users (including VoLTE and Circuit Switched Fall Back) was issued that sought feedback on whether the incumbent QoS parameters were sufficient to monitor QoS of VoLTE calls.

The telecom industry went into a tizzy in 2016 after the entry of Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Industries' Jio that was a pure VoLTE network. Jio has argued that since TRAI had issued norms in August itseld, there was no requirement for them to be changed so soon and added that since other providers will still rolling out VoLTE services pan India, it would be better to give sufficiently stable parameters. Jio has argued that there was no scientifically proven parameter to measure call muting and thus it shouldn't be included as one.

Market leader and Jio's rival Bharti Airtel meanwhile claims that since existing QoS norms only covered circuit-switched voice calls or traditional voice calls, non-circuit switched calls – VoLTE – would require a new QoS regime. The telco has said that call muting is a key concern and the "highest irritant after a call is established", suggesting measuring the silence frame between two to three second intervals.

Jio has 168 million users, all using VoLTE as of January this year while Airtel has 20 million and aims to reach 100 million by September end.