Often 4G connection, but 'Zero-G' speed

India may be the fastest growing mobile market in the world, but the quality of service – consistent data speeds and reliable connectivity -- remains a big challenge in the country.

Consumers across the cities complain about low speeds even after accessing internet using the latest high speed technology – 4G/LTE – on their mobile devices.

Wireless broadband, where one access internet on mobile devices and through WiFi and data cards, occupies a major pie of the total broadband users in the country. By the end of July this year, out of
total 310.87 million broadband users, about 292.22 million were on wireless mode.The top five wireless broadband service providers -- Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (128.58 million), Bharti Airtel (56.80 million), Vodafone (42.49 million), Idea Cellular (27.70 million) and Reliance Communications (12.75 million) at the end of July this year.

What is common among users is that they all grapple with connectivity and speed issues several times a day.

Deepak, a user from Delhi-NCR, uses a 4G connection of a private player but complains of virtually no internet or internet at 2G speed while on the go at many locations. This happens in the areas that have low coverage/less towers or on highways.

Another user residing in Kerala with a connection from a PSU firm complains of no connectivity outside his circle, especially when he is travelling to Delhi-NCR region. Though the PSU has tie-ups with other players to offer connectivity to its roaming customers, there is hardly any action on the ground. The result: the customer ends up paying the bill despite no internet connectivity while on roaming.

Also, operators promise a speed using the word ‘up to’ which is quite misleading and users are not able to contest it if the actual data speed is less than the promised one.

The network of various telecom players shifts from one technology to other depending upon the coverage in that particular area/city. For instance, with the same service provider, one user will get 4G
services at one place which can shift to 2G/3G while on the go. This is one of the major concern of the consumers.

Experts cite lack of investment by telecom players in infrastructure especially in setting up towers as the main reason for not being able to provide reliable connectivity to its users. Also, there are issues
for installing towers, it is not easy to get permission for setting up one and there are multiple approvals required by a telecom player.

“The coexistence of competing mobile telecommunications standards can also contribute to technological complexity and consumer confusion. Currently, service providers are selling SIM cards in the name of the underlying technology i.e. 2G/3G/4G. However, no speed whatsoever is being guaranteed by service providers and not all consumers are aware of the difference between the various technologies,” as per telecom regulator TRAI.

The entry of a new player, Reliance Jio has surely increased the pace of growth in the broadband segment with reduction in tariffs and increase in data limits. However, a majority of that growth has come through free and promotional tariffs doled out by the operator. This has also forced Airtel, Vodafone and Idea to follow suit.

But it remains to be seen whether this growth will be sustainable in the long term and will cater to a large number of data consuming population with consistent speeds.

The surge in the number of broadband connections in the country has been accompanied by increasing reports of consumer dissatisfaction with the speed of data being provided to them under wireless broadband plans.

Mahesh Uppal, a telecom consultant, says there are two kind of issues. One, there are limitations in the wireless networks where speeds can be more variable than in a fixedline network. This is because several factors can slow down or block wireless signals. For example, most people experience poor wireless reception in basements, behind large concrete structures or when they are not close enough to, or in line of sight of telecommunications towers. Therefore since most users access internet through wireless devices, data speeds can not be consistent.

Second, there is a lack of transparency. Operators often offer connections to more people than what their infrastructure or bandwidth can support. They often share incomplete information with users.
Ideally, they should be making investment in infrastructure to deliver promised speeds. However, commercial reasons discourage them from investing in networks.

According to the Nokia India Mobile Broadband Index 2017, total data payload in the Indian telecom network grew 60% over the last year to reach 165 petabytes. India is ranked 89 among 100 countries on average mobile internet connection speed at 4.9 mbps, much behind other Asia-Pacific countries such as Sri Lanka with 6.9 mbps and Thailand with 8.6 mbps, as per Akamai report for first quarter of this year.

Though the regulator has mandated 512 kbps as minimum download speed for wired broadband users, there is no such quality of service (QoS) regulation for wireless including mobile broadband users. The process for fixing a minimum speed for wireless connection has already started where TRAI is looking to address the issues being faced by users in wireless broadband.

“Consumer empowerment and protection is a critical element of a well-functioning telecom market. Ideally, consumers who are dissatisfied with the services or prices offered by their operator should be able to easily switch to another provider, creating incentives for providers to innovate and offer competitive prices and Quality of Services (QoS). The ability of consumers to make rational
and informed decisions in this regard is, however, constrained by several factors,” TRAI said in its consultation paper on ‘Data Speed under Wireless Broadband Plans’.

Regular use of terms such as ‘up to’ for data speeds helps service providers mask their actual speed that is promised to the customers.