New Delhi, Aug 25 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed serious concern over the issue of "call drops" and asked officials about steps those were being taken to address this problem.

Communications Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad meanwhile assured operators that the government will do all that is required to help them reduce the problem.

The prime minister said as call drops directly affects the common man, "steps be taken urgently to resolve the problem, and also to ensure that the problems in voice connectivity do not extend to data connectivity in the future.

Apprised of the status of mobile connectivity across the country, Modi directed officials to explore the possibility of leveraging existing resources, including railway and other communication infrastructure, to provide mobile connectivity in remote, and unconnected areas.

He also emphasized that the targets for digital infrastructure should be synchronized with the targets for the Digital India initiative.

Meanwhile, Prasad, at a separate event, said: "Government will do all that is needed to help operators. Operators should optimise their network."

In a meeting between Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg and CEOs of telecom service providers (TSPs) on Aug 18 where various issues related to call drops were discussed, the latter were asked to improve quality of service by focusing on improving capital expenditure and optimising resource utilisation to curb the connectivity problems.

New Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) chairman R.S.Sharma said the regulator will be out with a consultation paper on call drops in a fortnight.

"Will look at disincentivising telcos for call drops. Have asked telcos to submit tariff plans that incentivize call drops," he added.