Can't make a call during earthquake? Blame Modi sarkar

Just a few minutes ago, people working inside offices across Delhi-NCR rushed out. There was an earthquake and while the people in Delhi were not in any harm's way, there was some panic in the air. As it happens during such emergencies, people pull their phones out and ask about the well-being of their near and dear ones.

Most of these calls were not completed.

With hundreds of people using the cellular service simultaneously in an area, and with millions trying to make a call across the NCR, the cellular services merely collapse. The cellular infrastructure is so poor even in a city like Delhi that it just vanishes. Half the phones no longer have any cellular service and the other half can't make any calls.

On an average day, this poor infrastructure is responsible for call drops, which is a big annoyance. It is frustrating to shout "hello hello..." But the government, which has so far failed to act on this matter, has given telecom companies a wide berth. They just don't seem to realise that the issue of call drops and poor telecom infrastructure goes beyond mere annoyance. It is a system failure.

It is a given that in emergencies, people make calls. The increase in traffic puts tremendous pressure on the infrastructure and it is possible that even the best-planned and developed telecom infrastructure may fail. But the alacrity with which this happened today, within a moment of an emergency, is worrying and shows that Indian telecom companies are just not prepared, at any level, to deal with any sort of contingency.

And this should make the government very worried. There is no point of having one billion phone connections if that connectivity can't be maintained in the face of a disaster. The government regularly beats its chest on the number of phone connections the country has. But if none of these connections are going to work at a time when you need them, they are of no use.

As usual, the problem is the telecom companies. Again and again, they refuse to invest in the telecom infrastructure. Instead, they are just interested in milking phone consumers and offering them services that may seem cheap but barely work.

The government is at fault and it has turned a blind eye to the errant telecom companies. Just today, there is news that the New York municipality is suing internet service providers because they advertised something and then didn't deliver that kind of service to its consumers. You will never see that kind of action being taken against the telecom service providers in India. Instead, here the government, read TRAI, is happy to pass on the burden to consumers, saying that if you face call drop, you can file a claim for Rs 3.

Next time TRAI may come up with a solution that if you are trapped in a building during earthquake and can't make an emergency call, you can file a claim for Rs 5.