New Delhi, July 22 (IANS): The Department of Telecommunication (DoT) has asked all mobile phone-service providers to submit a report on action taken by them to address the call drop issue by July 31.

"The issue of call drops in mobile networks has been reviewed in the department. It was felt that there is an urgent need to address the menace of call drops," the DoT said in a letter to telecom operators dated July 17.

"Therefore, it is necessary that service providers undertake a special drive for radio frequency optimisation, analyse the reasons of the call drops and take appropriate steps, viz., installation of more sites, adopting in-building solutions, augmenting existing RF resources etc, as the case be," the letter said, a copy of which is available with IANS.

Recommendations are awaited from the sector watchdog on penalising or incentivising telecom operators on service quality but there was an urgent need for firms to upgrade infrastructure to tackle the call drop menace, Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said recently.

"We have to take the call-drop issue very seriously. As a minister, I am accountable to consumers of the country. Telecom service providers shall be asked to undertake a special drive for radio frequency optimisation of their network followed by periodic optimisation as per need," he said.