India’s telecom regulator TRAI is now banking on user surveys to keep a check on voice call quality offered by telcos. It’s new ‘My Call’ app allows TRAI to crowdsource call quality information via feedbacks from users using a rating system. The app pushes pop-ups after every call, asking the user to rate the call out of 5. This data can be viewed on a map on real time basis, allowing users to compare call quality of their service provider using crowdsourced data from nearby users. The app also provides historical and summarized feedback data, allowing users to rate a call from the past. The rating system also allows users to point out call drop instances and provide additional feedback such as background noise or audio delay. TRAI says that the data collected from users will be anonymous and not linked to users. The data can also be used for performance monitoring and as a public feedback data repository, TRAI added. Although the app might serve as an indicator of quality of service (QoS) offered by service providers, it cannot be seen as a fix for call drop issues in India. Especially, when there have been allegations of artificial PoI blockade, which led to a significant increase in call drops between Jio customers and incumbents: TRAI had imposed a collective fine of Rs 3050 crore on Airtel, Idea and Vodafone in October last year for this. DoT is yet to approve the penalty. This incident is different from the earlier…
