New Delhi: Coming down heavily on mobile operators for frequent call drops, Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Tuesday asked them to optimise their networks and said they cannot escape their 'responsibility and accountability'.
"Whatever the government is required to do, government has done and will do more. But what is required of the telecom operators, must be done by them," Prasad told reporters here.
With call drops becoming a cause of concern for the entire country, mobile operators need to rise to the occasion and they cannot escape their "responsibility and accountability", he said.
The Minister said he wants to tell the operators that while the work done by them in the spread of mobile telephony in the country has been appreciated, they have to find solutions including the public sector bodies as to why the whole problem has become rather serious in the last 3-4 months.
"The answer has to be discovered by them. The remedial measures have to be taken by them and response has to come from them," he said.
The problem of call drops has worsened in the recent months. In a meeting here last evening, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also voiced serious concern over call drops and directed officials to resolve the problem urgently.
Asked about the Prime Minister's intervention on the matter, Prasad said if there is a problem, it certainly goes to the Prime Minister. "The Prime Minister conveys his concern and we execute his concerns in a proactive manner."
Earlier in the day at an event in Greater Noida, Prasad had asked mobile operators to optimise the networks and reinforce their systems even as he promised full support on policy front including on installation of towers.
Telecom operators have cited shutting down of mobile towers and radiation fears, as also lack of spectrum, as the major reasons for call drops.
They have said that about 7,000-10,000 sites have been locked or shut down across major cities and have sought a uniform national policy for installation of mobile towers.
