Irritated by Call Drops & Slow Net Connectivity? TRAI Backs ‘Fibre First’ Solution

Have you been facing repeated call drops and terrible Internet connectivity off lately?

An issue that seems to plague all network operators in India, this is undoubtedly taking an irritating toll on the best of us, especially nowadays, when smartphones power our lives entirely.

So are there any answers?

According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), what can bring a respite to this crisis would be the widespread implementation of the Fibre First initiative (fibre-based wireline connectivity) that could drastically help in improving telecom operators’ service quality, in comparison to the wireless medium.

“It is difficult to ensure service quality in the wireless medium that has its own limitations related to bandwidth quality and upload and download issues. India should come on the fixed-line broadband infrastructure,” said RS Sharma, TRAI chairman, reports Financial Times.

To further explain where India stands in terms of global rankings for network connectivity, we take a look at the recent Speedtest Global Index published by a US-based broadband network-testing firm.

At a fixed broadband speed of 20.72 megabits per second (Mbps), India stands at 67th in rankings, which is below the average download speed of 42.71 Mbps worldwide.

While the telecom watchdog is vehemently pushing for fibre connectivity, a 0.38 per cent decline in fixed-line subscriber base has been observed between the months of July and August alone, in addition to 1.18 billion mobile connections currently transporting 97 per cent of data wirelessly, reports FT.

So how exactly would the Fibre First initiative help in the current scenario?

You may also like: Mobile Service Disconnected Despite Sufficient Balance? TRAI Says No More!

With the goal of giving the telecom optic fibre cables the status of a public utility, the initiative will focus on building shared duct infrastructure, fiberisation of 60 per cent tower base stations and leveraging broadcasting and power sector assets for the process.

In addition to that, mandating of telecom and cable installations across both office and home spaces is in the pipeline.

It will take time to implement this, but it is good to see that there are some solutions out there.

(Edited by Vinayak Hegde)

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