Technoglitch
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Bharti Airtel and Vodafone are implementing a software solution called Self Optimising Network (SON) technology to tackle the call drop menace and improve the overall network stability across the country.
The country's top two mobile operators have both partnered with networking major Cisco for SON technology that promises to significantly improve voice call quality and reduce dropped call rates, besides offering higher data speed and better accessibility, industry officials said.
Mobile operators are under pressure to check frequent call drops and the industry regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), in a recent order mandated telcos to compensate subscribers Re 1 for each call dropped. Telcos have contended the order in the court.
Airtel is deploying SON across its 2G, 3G and 4G networks. The total footprint currently standing at nearly 40,000 sites in the country, a person familiar with the matter said, adding that the leading telco will expand SON footprint to 90,000 sites covering 20 cities across the country in the near future.
Airtel first deployed this technology in Delhi and Bengaluru in 2014, and the technology has also reached cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Patna, Ahmedabad and Lucknow, the person said.
Vodafone has deployed SON over one-third of its network but only for the 3G technology. The telco, which has more than 194 million customers in the country, said the deployment will continue until the entire network is SON-enabled. "We are confident that our ongoing fruitful relationships with Cisco will help us delight our users with a great quality of both voice and data services," Vishant Vora, director of technology at Vodafone India, said in a statement.
The technology helps telcos lower network congestion through superior load balancing, and allows them to offer better network service on special occasions when many people use their mobile devices at the same time, even if it's unplanned. It also allows quicker automatic site deployment, resulting in much fewer service disruptions.
The technology will also help telcos reduce operational costs through automation of many of the engineering intensive tasks associated with running the network.
How Airtel, Vodafone plan to tackle call drops, increase data speeds | ET Telecom
The country's top two mobile operators have both partnered with networking major Cisco for SON technology that promises to significantly improve voice call quality and reduce dropped call rates, besides offering higher data speed and better accessibility, industry officials said.
Mobile operators are under pressure to check frequent call drops and the industry regulator, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai), in a recent order mandated telcos to compensate subscribers Re 1 for each call dropped. Telcos have contended the order in the court.
Airtel is deploying SON across its 2G, 3G and 4G networks. The total footprint currently standing at nearly 40,000 sites in the country, a person familiar with the matter said, adding that the leading telco will expand SON footprint to 90,000 sites covering 20 cities across the country in the near future.
Airtel first deployed this technology in Delhi and Bengaluru in 2014, and the technology has also reached cities such as Mumbai, Kolkata, Patna, Ahmedabad and Lucknow, the person said.
Vodafone has deployed SON over one-third of its network but only for the 3G technology. The telco, which has more than 194 million customers in the country, said the deployment will continue until the entire network is SON-enabled. "We are confident that our ongoing fruitful relationships with Cisco will help us delight our users with a great quality of both voice and data services," Vishant Vora, director of technology at Vodafone India, said in a statement.
The technology helps telcos lower network congestion through superior load balancing, and allows them to offer better network service on special occasions when many people use their mobile devices at the same time, even if it's unplanned. It also allows quicker automatic site deployment, resulting in much fewer service disruptions.
The technology will also help telcos reduce operational costs through automation of many of the engineering intensive tasks associated with running the network.
How Airtel, Vodafone plan to tackle call drops, increase data speeds | ET Telecom
