The Government Not Telecom Companies Should Provide For PCR Network

Whenever these's a natural calamity such as earthquake or flood, a situation where rescue and relief operation is going on, calls need to be routed on priority for the people involved. There should at least be a method of voice communication for effective coordination so that relief reaches to the victims at earliest. In their recent statements, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has declared that the Government of India should be responsible for providing and paying for the cost of setting up PCR (priority call routing) networks. During the disasters that happened in Uttarakhand in 2013, TRAI had proposed a plan for setting up such a network. The team at TRAI has shared that they believe the Telecom Service Providers are not liable to set up the PCR network and the Government should bear the expenses for it.

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A priority call routing scheme demands that few of the subscribers be given preference over others. Since the telecom service providers have designed their networks by keeping in mind the traffic and commercial scenario, they will have to upgrade to require configuration to provide for connectivity and roaming arrangements as per licence conditions and Government won't bear any cost for this. DoT has also shared that they might enforce the implementation of PCR by telecom operators in their networks and no cost against CAPEX/ OPEX will be be reimbursed.

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