Wednesday, 27 August 2008

Bharti Tops the Chart of Most Congested Networks, RCom Follows

Bharti Airtel, supposedly India’s largest phone services firm, has apparently also topped the charts for being the most congested network followed by Reliance Communications (RCom), which is the second largest mobile operator, according to the latest Point of Interconnection (PoI) congestion report released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai).

Trai, in a report on congestion during April-June, said Bharti Airtel had some 56 so-called PoIs having congestion, followed by Reliance Communications Ltd’s (RCom) 22 PoIs and 21 congested points for Dishnet Wireless Ltd-run Aircel service. The networks of Vodafone Essar Ltd and Idea Cellular Ltd with some 19 PoIs each ranked next, said the report.

The number of PoIs having congestion has decreased from 275 in March to 156 in June. Out of these 156 PoIs, the level of congestion in 86 PoIs is more than 5 per cent as compared to 141 PoIs in March. The circles/ states more affected due to PoI congestion are Bihar, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Haryana, North Eastern states and Himachal Pradesh.

The service providers in the past have often blamed the state-owned BSNL for the problem saying that the company hasn’t provided them enough points of interconnection, which has led to significant congestion in the network. Industry experts say that such problem can be overcome if the service providers make sufficient investment in towers and other infrastructure.