According to the report, call drops have been found significantly higher in all networks of all telecom companies operating in Hyderabad exc-ept Vodafone 2G, BSNL 3G and Telenor 2G.

Hyderabad: Telecom regulator on Wednesday said that it has found leading mobile operators are using RLTO technology for masking call drops in Hyderabad even as telecom companies blamed heavy torrential rains in the city during the drive test.

A Trai report said that 2G networks of Bharti Airtel, Vodadone, BSNL, Tata Docomo and Telenor have set higher RLT (radio link time-out) values than other operators. RLT is one of the parameters which decides for how long the call should be sustained if the signal quality drops below a certain threshold.

According to the report, call drops have been found significantly higher in all networks of all telecom companies operating in Hyderabad exc-ept Vodafone 2G, BSNL 3G and Telenor 2G.

The drive test found three areas in Hyderabad — Banjara Hills, Secunderabad and Gandhamguda — accounting for about 60 per cent of total dropped calls.

“If call drops in the three most problematic areas are excluded, most of the operators meet the call drop rate benchmark of two per cent, except Airtel 2G and Aircel 2G networks,” the telecom regulator said in its report.

“Vodafone 2G and Telenor 2G would also exceed the benchmark if RLT (radio link time-out) of 40 is assumed. With RLT as 40, Call Drop Rate will increase to 2.2 per cent for Vodafone 2G and 2.7 per cent for Telenor,” Trai said in its drive test report released.

Reliance CDMA has witnessed highest dropped call rate at 5.5 per cent, followed by RCom 2G at 4.8 per cent, Tata DoCoMo 2G 4.30 per cent, Idea 3G at 4.10 per cent, Airtel 2G and Aircel 2G four per cent, Tata Teleservices CDMA 3.8 per cent, BSNL 2G and Idea 2G 3.5 per cent, Aircel 3G 3.10 per cent, Airtel 3G 2.10 per cent.