Business

Wednesday March 6, 2013

DiGi, Celcom and Maxis get largest fine in one sitting for dropped calls

By REGINA LEE
starbiz@thestar.com.my


PETALING JAYA: Communications regulator Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has served RM190,000 in compounds to three of the biggest telcos in the country over dropped calls in the largest fine served in one sitting.

DiGi Telecommunications Sdn Bhd was the biggest culprit with a total of four compounds amounting to RM100,000, while Celcom Axiata Bhd was slapped with RM60,000 via three compounds.

Maxis Communications Bhd, meanwhile, was served two compounds amounting to RM30,000.

MCMC strategic communications adviser Sheikh Raffie Abd Rahman said the compounds served on Monday were a result of the numerous complaints from consumers as well as test results from their own engineers.

“We have been continuously testing all telcos, but there has been an increase in public complaints and we have to do something about it,” he told StarBiz.

He added that MCMC had to get tough with the telcos, and that their messages and warnings to the telcos to beef up their infrastructure had gone unheeded.

“We have given them more than 10 months to improve their service. Nothing was done at all,” he said.

Dropped calls occur when a phone call is terminated unexpectedly because of technical reasons.

Sheikh Raffie said the most common reason for dropped calls was the lack of transmission towers, which were supposed to have been constructed by the telcos.

When callers are on the move, their calls will be transmitted through one tower to another. If the towers are too far apart, then phone signals can be lost.

Various groups have also claimed that consumers end up forking out more money because of the dropped calls.

Sheikh Raffie, meanwhile, said that the compounds issued were based on the Communications and Multimedia Act over failure to adhere to the quality of service.

“As long as consumers are still facing the problem of dropped calls, the issue will not be resolved.

“We are going to get tough on the telcos now. They want more subscribers but they won't do enough to cater to them,” he said.

At last count, there were 41 million cell-phone subscriptions in Malaysia in a population of 28 million.

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