New Delhi: Almost all the big names – be it Reliance, AirTel, IDEA or BPL – have been found wanting by the telecom regulator in terms of giving satisfaction to cellular customers for reliability, network performance and availability.

None of the players in the fast expanding cellular market in India, which boasts of over one crore subscribers today, have met the prescribed service quality standards in terms of network performance, reliability and availability, a survey of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) said on March 5.

The story is the same in case of basic services, dominated by state-owned Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), where operators were found short of meeting the standards of network, reliability and availability and overall the service quality levels were rated "poor".

Perhaps as exception, BSNL met the prescribed norms in Andhra Pradesh, the survey said.

However, the survey pointed out that level of customers' satisfaction was much higher in case of cellular services compared to the basic ones.

Virtually every cellular service provider crossed or came close to the 90 per cent mark in terms of 'customers scores on satisfaction with service provision'. In sharp contrast, except for HFCL customers in Punjab and Shyam Telelink in Rajasthan, none of the basic service providers in any circle could score 90 per cent satisfaction mark for service provision.

In case of basic services, no operator was found to be meeting the important benchmark with respect to providing new connections after registration of demand, the survey which covers October 2001-June 2002 period, said.

PTI