“I am willing to walk 10 steps, but they (telecom companies) need to walk 20. As far as I am concerned, I have cleared all the policies that were pending for the past seven to eight years. Spectrum sharing, spectrum trading. I have notified the defence spectrum band. I am firm that the telcos need to improve their quality of services,” said telecom minister Ravi Shankar Prasad at the ET Awards.
Prasad also wondered how it’s only in the past four months that the telecom companies have installed 25,000 BTS (base transceiver stations)? “I am happy that they are now responding. The telcos need to do three things — harmonise their network, identify gaps, and invest in them. I won’t accept any alibis from them. Some days back, the global CEO of a leading telecom operator came and met me and apologized for the call drops. And while I am the minister for telecom, and my job is also to protect the interest of the consumers. It is their (telcos’) responsibility too,” the minister said.
