A temporary mobile tower has been put up in Parliament after lawmakers' complaints
Highlights
- Temporary mobile tower comes up in Parliament, amid call drop complaints
- Earlier request for mobile tower denied due to security concerns
- Govt focus on reducing regulating telecom operators, reducing call drops
Lawmakers will no longer have to deal with call drops, at least in Parliament. To address their complaints about poor network, a temporary mobile tower has come up in the complex.
Demands for a mobile tower only for the historic Parliament complex had earlier been denied on security grounds.
But after rising complaints from Parliamentarians, the government appears to have given in.
Poor connectivity in the Parliament House was raised in the Lok Sabha even last week. Maharashtra lawmaker Supriya Sule pointed at poor 3G services in the complex.
Responding to the complaints, Telecom Minister Ravishankar Prasad said the heritage nature of the 88-year-old building had to be kept in mind along with security considerations.
The mobile tower is mounted on a vehicle. Another one is on standby to provide smooth services to lawmakers.
Not just lawmakers, poor connectivity has vexed journalists reporting from Parliament too.
Sources say the mobile tower tackles the problem of call drops at least within the fortified Parliament complex.
In recent months, the government has been working to reduce call drops for citizens and improve the quality of mobile network coverage after complaints of poor service by private telecom operators.
To check the problem, the telecom regulator said the companies would have to compensate Re.1 for every call drop experienced by the consumer. It said that a maximum of three call drops per day would be compensated.