FIL copy C-45 This report was prepared for use within the Bank and its affiliated organizations. They do not accept responsibility for its accuracy or completeness. The report may not be published nor may it be quoted as representing their views. INTERNATIONAL BAN]K FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION INDIAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS Notes on Quality and Efficiency of System INDIA By: Wellington Powell Telecomrnmunications Engineering Consultant June 1965 Projects Department  INDIAN TELECOMMUNICATIONS Notes on Quality and Efficiency of System Prepared Ay Wellington Powell Telecomminalcations Engineering Consultant INDEX Page N. FOREWORD SUONARY i - iii GENERAL REPORT 1 - 13 SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS COVERED IN REPORT l -15 TERMS OF REFERENCE Attachment I OFFICIALS VISITED Attachment II TABLE OF QUALITY OF LOCAL SERVICE Attachment III DETAILS OF CUSTOMERS WAITING SERVICE Attachment IV STATEMENT OF ALLOCATION OF LINES TO WAITING CUSTOMERS Attachment V June 1965 INDIAN TELECOMUITICATIONS SYSTEM FOREWORD In pursuance of Terms of Reference dated January 2, 1965 (attachment 1) 1 have carried out a review of the opera- tions of Indian telecommunications with respect to the gene- ral efficiency of their system's work and procedures for maintaining ma-dLmum use and quality control of their day to day operationS. Telecommunications staff of varying ranks were visited (attachlfment 2) at New Delhi, Bombay, Jaipur, Hyder'.ba4, Calcutta and Madras. Waiting application files for telephone and tele- graph services were reviewed. Complaints, orders and re- quests originat:ng from the public were followed through operations. Reports for management control of efficiency and quality were studied. While it seemed inadvisable to interview telecommunications customers concerning the-ir service attitudes, some personal impressions were fcrmed from use of the service and casual observations of tele- phone and telegraph use in hotel lobbies and other public locations. Actual records were examined where available. In some instances, estimates of results were given and are noted in the report. The Indian telecommunications managoment and staff were most cooperative in producing available information and discussing their work and problems. INIDIl TELECOUUICATIONS SYSTEI SU1M4ARY 1,0 There appear to be four major operative handicaps having long term bearing on efficiency and quality of Indian telecommunications ser- vices: (i) Shortage of capital for new construction. (ii) An accounting system which severely limits management control in not providing infor- mation on actual rate of return for money spent and for valid cost comparisons, (iii) Standards of production which do not en- courage efficiency. (iv) A labor policy which as presently inter- preted is a material burden on innovation and progress. These four points as they relate to the Terms of Reference are treated in some detail in the general report. Subject to the above, the use of plant in service is efficient. The quality of installation, maintenance and traffic service for both tele- phone and telex is good even in the rapidly developing centers. Telegraph service is a weak spot and is treated in the general report. Present reports and controls appear generally adequate for exist- ing plant and state of development. There is currently a serious billing problem in Delhi. As of July 1, 1964 outstanding revenue was 7-1/2 times monthly billing with over 50%0 from delinquent government accounts. 2.0 There follow certain representative quality measurements taken from the general report which illustrate general performance. 2.1 Toll Services --------------Average delay in minutes--------------- 1960 1962 1964 Route Urgent Ordinary Urgent Ordinary Urgent Ordinary Iajor routes 25 60 47 98 48 108 MIedium routes 24 33 24 34 27 37 Minor routes 20 30 20 35 18 25 - 11 - 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 Toll calls per main station per year 126 137 146 152 175 The worsening delays are caused by increasing toll traffic outstrioping the small increase in trunk pairs on overhead wire pending the completion of backbcne cable routes. These are now being cut in and the situation should be substantially improved by the end of 1966. Operator speed of answer (seconds): Assistance & telephone information: 1960 1962 196h Large exchange (four largest cities) 7.4 7.4 6.9 Medium exchange 5.2 5.2 7.2 This indeed reflects a good performance. 2.2 Plant troubles per month per 1000 lines: 1961 1962 1963 1964 Bombay - 628 672 666 Calcutta 158 219 201 206 Delhi 509 581 571 481 Madras 6oo 557 647 602 Lucknow - 0 h65 438 Kanpur - 725 699 646 There is a wide variation in plant troubles depending on central office overloads, age of subscribers' sets and underground versus overhead cables It is higher than it should be for average plant life but not out of line for the equipment presently working. A further discussion is in the general report. 1960 1962 1964 2.3 Outside plant telephone and telegraph men per 1000 lines: 10.22 10,89 9.42 Inside plant telephone and telegraph men per 1000 lines: 12.18 15.07 15.15 It is difficult to compara the figures on inside plant men as new exchange installers (capital expense) are included with normal maintenance men (maintenance expense) in the above figures. Presently more men are engnged in installing new equipment than in 1960, but comparative figures are not available. (If the accounting procedures as proposed by Peat, Harwick, Mitchell and Co. are adopted by the Indian Posts & Telegraph Depaitment (P&T) the resultant figures would be meaningful and useful for management purposes. - iii - 2.4 Average time to clear customer troubles (based on a sample test) Bombay 3,8 hrs. Delhi 2.5 hrs, Madras 1,8 hrs. It would appear desirable to have such figures on a periodic basis, at least for large exchanges, as they are an important index of performance. The test figures as shown are in a satisfactory range although Boribay is on the high side. 2.5 Telegrams, speed of delivery: Figures are not available for the speed of delivery of telegrams but the objective minimum is three hours. 2.6 1960 1962 1964 Total telegraph complaints 59,650 61,430 68,769 Complaints per 10,000 Messages telegraph 15 15 12 These are the recorded figures but they do not represent the quality of service discussed in the general report. 2.7 1960 1962 1964 Traffic operators per 1,000 lines 18,c6 18.0 19.73 In view of the rise in toll traffic and waiting time for circuits together with increase in calls for special service, these figures are not out of line. High off duty time in some instances over 30% also has a material bearing on these figures. 3.0 The management are capable, interested and cognizant of their problems. There appears to be a reasonable age spread to assure good manage- ment continuity. The Development Research Center staff phase in iell with the operations and factory groups are developing equipment to meet current Indian needs. Because of the relatively low present telephone development and the high demand in India, the telecommunication system in the next five to ten years could leapfrog one or two generations of transmission equip- ment now in service in more highly developed nations. In the last ten years, India, among all nations with 500,000 telephones, is second only to Japan in rate of growth (India 3 times - Japan 4 times). Management looks forward to cut costs of trunk circuits per mile by as much as 50% which will permit exten- sion of telephone offices to all towns and large villages more rapidly. It is their desire to establish telephone exchanges within the next ten years in all communities now serviced by telegraph connections (Centers of over 5,000 people). This however cannot be reached with budgets at present level. - iv - 4.0 Introduction of subscriber toll dialling has been a ma-or success and should demonstrate to the Indian public and government that wise tele- commun-Ication investmnt provides a major contribution to the Indian business economy. The managemnrt is aware that the use of the more sophisticated telecoiunication equiprrent is to cut costs and improve service -will require more technical knowledge and a higher degree of training for proper utilization. It is most important that training and rates of pay consistent with these higher requirements are provided and that qualified personnel is ready before equipment is placed in use. According to present pay scales operators and clerks, who require a minimum of training, receive one-third higher pay than central office mechanics who require one year of formal training. The correction of this incongruous situation should receive a high periority in view of the large expansion now underway and it is difficult to over emphasize this problem. The creation of a small working group -with direct access to top management would be of material aid in meeting these present and coming problems. With adequate funds for new construction and positive action, parti- cularly on points two, three and four of the first paragraph, there appears to be no reason why telecommunications development should not expand very rapidly in the next ten years to the material advantage of the Indian economy, INDIAN TELECOIMUNICATIONS SYSTEM GENERAL REPORT Traffic Service 5.0 Under this heading traffic service is discussed in the rarious phases of operation relating to the origination of customer telecommuni- cation traffic and the handling of the telephone call or telegram to its completion. Attachment 3 shows the quality of dial switching service 1961 through 1964. This data was obtained for the principal cities but was not available for the entire Indian operation. In 1964 the percentage of calls completed ranged from 59.7 to 70.3. An analysis shows that while some of the calls were lost due to equipment faults or to overloading in the auto- matic switching equipment the main reason for the non-completion of calls was due to the called nunber being engaged or due to the absence of the called party from his telephone. 5.1 Accepted telephone engineering standards call for one lost call in 500 at each step of selection in automatic switching or the possibility in a five digit selection of one call lost per 100 in the switching train. This is reasonable. In most of the cities of India the lost calls in the switching equipment are greater than one in a hundred due to the heavy loading on switching plant but the service may be regarded as reasonable and additional switches have been installed in heavily loaded sections wherever space permits. One of the worst instances of overloading occurs in Lucknow where a loss of six calls per hundred takes place due to over- loaded plant. The general figures indicate a full or overload use of equipment. 6.0 Delays on special operator services covering number information, special and assistance calls were as follows: 1961 1962 1964 Speed of operator answer percentage over 10 seconds 7.4 7.4 6.9 This is good service. 7.0 Total complaints for local telephone service per 1000 telephones per month relating to out of order, poor service and wrong numbers: 1961 1962 1963 1964 Bombay* - 758 753 762 Calcutta 283 338 325 336 Delhi 1,431 1,417 1,542 1,543 Madras* 623 623 529 546 Lucknow - 936 811 926 Kanpur - 1,208 1,269 1,599 Madras faults found on routine tests are not included * In these cities repeat complaints have not been included. - 2 - It is difficult in the period available to draw conclusions from this table. Various influencing factors, such as age and type of outside plant, central office overloading, buried or overhead wire, all have an influence. As discussed under plant operations, 60-80/G of out of order com- plaints come from faults on the customers premises either on wiring or sets. A periodic analysis of causes of complaints would appear warranted. 8.0 Presently there is no anaylsis made of total public criticism covering such items as waiting lists, directory errors, slow bills, etc. The material is there but unassembled and should be processed to be of help to management in judging performance. General Discussion 9.0 As observed in the summary, the traffic operations under pre- vailing conditions are good. There follows some suggestions which might be of value as the Indian system expands. Telephone Directories 10.0 The primary purpose of a telephone directory is to assist sub- scribers in making calls. It also can produce revenue from advertising and generate a net profit. As an example the gross cost per book in Bombay is Rs. 3.3. The sales revenue per book is Rs. 4.17. The net profit is Rs. 0.82 which could be greatly increased by the extended use of commer- cial advertising as suggested later. 10.1 When new directories are printed they are sent to directory dis- tribution centers and customers are advised to pick them up. An estimate was given that 1016 of total customers had not picked up their new directory after 30 days. For this reason full advantage is not taken of the new printed book with some unnecessary repercussions on customer service. This could be materially improved by a direct delivery to the customer either through the post office or by the telephone organization utilizing non- skilled personnel which are now on the payroll. It should decrease calls to information, increase recovery of old directories and it has sufficient appeal as a customer service to warrant a trial. Various estimates made show that from 50% to 7.5 of the calls to information were made for entries in the existing directory. The reasons given for this range from illiteracy to the relative ease of securing the number wanted from the information operator. 10.2 In most of the large cities, directories are published every six months and supplements are distributed for major telephone rearrangements or additions. Many countries publish directories once a year with or without an interim addenda distribution. Consideration could be given to trying a 9 or 12 month book. In Bmbay, such a procedure would reduce annual paper tonn- age from 160 to 120 tons with a nine month book or to 80 tons with a 12 month book. -3- 10.3 Directory revenues come from advertising in the alphabetical sec- (bold type listings - margins) and one or two classified sections. In Delhi, the first section is a business classification permitting listings with written advertising matter, the second is classified by business types and margins are permitted. Other cities publish only one classified section con- sisting of paid for listings. In the long ran, value to the advertiser is determined by customer usage. Newhere can an Indian telephone customer find all local electricians to choose from or all restaurants, etc., as a complete classified list is not available, since both classified lists contain only those businesses who pay for being listed. EV furnishing one free classified listing to each business customer to establish a complete list and then selling bold type, colum space, display space and extra classifications, the customer receives a better service. Advertising because of the competition should increase. This public offering could afford a clear cut customer advantage over outside directory competition which now exists in the form of privately printed competing direc- tories that do not have complete lists. A three year trial under vigorous selling management would appear more than warranted. No major capital or no foreign exchange is involved and the profit reward could be high. Directory service improvements may reduce operator and central office switching loads. 11.0 The introduction of call queuing (holding of incoming calls in time sequence for completion when first terminating line is available) has been immensely helpful in the handling of assistance and toll booking traffic. A recorded announcement should also be used in order to inform the customer of reasons for delay. 12.0 Many large customers have usage which justify private wire or tie lines by-passing the central switching machine and going directly point to point. Some of these are already in service. As trunk relief is obtained, it is understood that provision is being made for this type of service wherever possible it should be encouraged. While this takes outside plant, it does not take central office switches and with appropriate rates this service is vary profitable. There is a great tendency on the part of such heavy use customers to hold connections thus in effect creating a private line holding Central Office equipment in use. Where point to point customers are in the same exchange, no trunk facilities are required. 13.0 The foregoing suggests that there might be organized a small en- gineering-sales force for the profitable improvement of customer service. The basic purpose would be to place customer services, present and future, where they are most needed. Even with a formidable held order situation it is important to look at the service of present overloaded customers. They could also be useful in determining proper customer use of telegraph, tele- printer and telex. 14.0 The introduction of subscriber toll dialling has been a good for- ward step. Planning people are counting heavily and properly so on the ex- tension of this service to keep to a minimum the installation of more manual toll positions and at the same time to improve greatly the qualit.y of toll service. The complete cost of manual operating, ticketing and billing per call is estimated at Rs. 0.455 with some toll messages billed at Rs. 0.30. It is obvious that the mechanization of short haul traffic to a message register basis is a major improvement for the country. 14.1 RISE IN TRAFFIC ON INTRODUCTION OF SUBSCRIBER TRUNK DIALLING (STD) Ratio of STD Completed Calls Route to pre-STD Calls in 1965 Dalhi-Agra (July 1962) 31.4 : 1 Kanpur-Lucknow (November 1960) 26.9 : 1 Delhi-Jaipur (September 1964) 26.6 : 1 Delhi-Kanpur (January 1965) 26.3 : 1 This dramatic increase was due to rate reductions and the faster 11when you want it service" with the elimination of the recording operators. 14.2 There follows a statement of cost to subscriber per call as the result of a decrease in minimum call time. Cost to subscriber per trunk call Pre-STD STD Holding M. Time Holding Min. Time Route Time Cost Charge Time Cost Charge Mts. Rs. Mts. its. Rz. Seconds Kanpur-Lucknow 46.5 1.50 3 2.1 0.51 24 Delhi-Agra 46.5 46.50 3 0.94 0.52 12 Delhi-Jaipur 46.5 46.50 3 1.09 1.19 6 Delhi-Kanpur 4.5 6.00 3 1.08 1.19 6 With the improved service therefore, the cost per call ,o customer decreased markedly. 14.3 There follows the revenue per circuit together with total calls. Pre--STD and STD Revenue Per Circuit (daily) Pre-STD Pre STD* STD Revenue Post STD Total Revenue per Total Route Calls Per Circuit Circuit Calls Kanpur-Lucknow 441 Rs. 250 Rs. 123 20,073 Delhi-Agra 500 155 232 25,343 Delhi-Jaipur 4o0 325 218 14,254 Delhi-Kanpur 550 412 353 18,010 It will be noted that pre-STD revenue per circuit is sonewhat higher than post-STD revenue per circuit. However, this is more than off- set by the lower cost per circuit mile because of the use of coaxfal cable. The total return on any particular route is of course greatly increased by the largernamber of circuits in use. * Costs of ticketing and billing not present in post-STD have been deducted from totl: revenue to make valid comparison. 14.4 STD Traffic - Circuit Utilization Paid Time and Revenue per Circuit Number of Circuits utilization Paid time per Route- circuits per circuit per day circuit per day Hours Hours Kanpur-Lucknow 38 (2)* 9.12 6.62 Delhi-Agra 36 (W)* 8.19 5.79 Delhi-Jaipur 47 (5) 4.97 3.29 Delhi-Kanpur 28 (4)* 8.38 5.01 14.5 Circuit utilization will obviously drop whenever a change is made to STD because of the elimination of operator recording time and waiting time for the called party. Non-STD means higher utilization, but poorer ser- vice to the customer. In 1964 the average wait after recording until connec- tion was established averaged 108 minutes for ordinary toll calls cn major routes. As new equipment is installed the share of STD toll traffic is esti- mated to increase from 25)% in 1965 to 84o at the end of the next Five Year Plan. This project will achieve a major improvement in service. 14.6 Operator toll dialling, which gives faster, better and cheaper ser- vice than the old manual method through the elimination of one operator, is also expanding. There are now 180 single link routes and four routes of more than one link. At the end of the Fourth Five Year Plan these are estimated to be 500 and 32 respectively. 15.0 At present no record is maintained of the speed of answer of sub- scriber signal at the local manual exchanges. Load figures are derived from the number of calls handled per busy hour and lines are adjusted between the different switchboard positions to balance the load but service as the customer sees it (how quick does the operator acknowledge) is neglected. As systems grow, particularly in the circle exchanges, this would appear to be a desir- able management tool. Accounting 16.0 The draft report of a Review of the accounting procedures of Indian telecommunications operations, prepared by Peat Marwick Mitchell and Co., con- tains many recommendations which could be most helpful to the management of the P&T, if adopted. For example, one common measurement in use in other telecommunications systems is to compare current net capital expenditures with net revenue increases to determine profitability of new construction jobs based on the actual cost. In the Indian operation, small capital expenditures are charged to operating expenses. The frequency or volume of such small expenditures accounts for over 35% of the real capital expenditures. Thus investment is understated, expense is overstated and no reliable control or comparison is possible on rate of return. Number of circuits pre-STD. -6- Billing 17.0 In most centers the billing operation is good taking into account the procedures used. New Delhi is an exception, and the present operation is poor. An estimate was given that more than 50% of the outstanding bills were owed by government entities. The government audit procedure is cumber- some and under their directions no bills are paid until each toll call and extension charge is verified. This is somewhat unfair in the sense that on the average it takes the P&T seven and a half months to collect for these bills. The amount involved is currently over Rs. 25.5 million. It would seem that it should be possible to reach an arrangement for paying bills as rendered with appropriate adjustments reflected in the subsequent bill. 17.1 There also appears to be a reluctance in Delhi to follow collection routines and termination of service in case of non-payment. Some of this is due to late billing, although there appears to be a reluctance to deal with political and prominent business people in a manner to assure payments within reasonable periods. This is substantially a matter of policy and no recom- mendation is made. 17.2 True automation of billing work would appear impractical for some time to come. There appears however to be a real opportunity to streamline the manual procedure to avoid copying and transfer of records. These steps could be taken and actually must be done before any real automation can be considered. The working space in Delhi is poor and crowded, equipment sub- standard and absence is high. On the day visited 40% of the staff was absent. There are simpler manual billing procedures available than those being used, and these would greatly improve accuracy, cut cost and save time. In addition the service order procedures, from receipt of request to comple- tion of the order, directory advice, billing advice and advice to traffic information could be improved. 17.3 There is very little use made of bill inserts to educate the public on the progress and problems of the telephone and telegraph operations. The P&T has much to tell about progress, the problem of long holding time, the promotion of toll trunks usage in off hours and kindred subjects. Bill in- serts are a good and inexpensive medium for these purposes. 17.4 It might be helpful to segregate long overdue and extremely doubt- ful accounts from those for which there is a reasonable chance of collection. This could be done by the establishment of an uncollectable reserve to which would be charged amounts of bills on which hope of collection is nil or where for which long-drawn out law suits are necessary. Any subsequent recoveries would be credited to this account. The separation has the merit of giving better control of collection work and current outstanding bills. Uider present collection routines a registered letter request for payment is sent. This is costly and unnecessary if a telephone call is made before service is suspended. 17.5 While it is mentioned here, under Eilling, the use of part time employees during peak periods should be effective. This is a common practice in other countries and a part time force usually consists of former employees who do not care to work full time or persons who for many reasons may not care for regular employment. Jn many countries, traffic and accounting de- partments have also used students on vacation to do productive work and at the same time judge their competence for possible future full time employment. Waiting Lists 18.0 A list showing the status of applicants waiting for telephone ser- vice as of September 30, 1964 for 2207 telephone exchanges was reviewed. While some very small exchanges have no waiting applicants large city ex- changes are badly congested. The statement 4 attached, gives an analysis of waiting lists by time and number in principal cities. 18.1 Telephone applications are classified by categories. If an appli- cant is willing to pay Ra. 2,000 on the "own your own telephone" plan, he is placed in a high preference caWgory. UndKr this plan, he is billed at a lower rate to achieve a repayment of the amount without interest over 20 years. If he cancels before his refurls have equalled Rs. 500, he loses the difference between his credit and Rs. 50C. Statement 4 attached gives details of this procedure. The present waiting list procedure seems to work fairly satisfac- torily in a difficult situation. 19.0 The use of public telephone in open public areas has been tried to furnish some form of telephone service to the general public. The incidents of robbery and destruction made this impractical on a large scale. Pay sta- tions are now being placed where they can be watched by an attendant, such as gas stations and stores. Proper planning of these installations might be the dty of the engineering-sales group mentioned earlier in this report. 20.0 There is also a growing waiting list for telex service; at present service is furnished in five exchanges with a capacity of 900 machines. Ey the end of the Third Five Year Plan (March 31, 1966), 30 exchanges would be working with a capacity of 2,730 machines and during the Fourth Five Year Plan the number of exhanges should reach 88 with a capacity of 17,800. The present bottle-neck is production of the Olivetti type machines in the indian factory but there are no insurmountable obstacles and an improvement should be achieved Below is a statement of teleprinter production anticipaied during the fourth plan period. -8- Page Iodel Tape Model English: Telex 9,000 - Gentex - 3,500 Other Users 2,000 - Spares & uisc. e.g. VFT mcnitoring, training centers, etc. 1,000 500 Total 12,000 4,000 Iindi: For District telegraph offices and other users 100 100 Note: The manufacturing capacity of H.T.L. for Tape and Page Models is over 2,000 machines a year during 1965-66 and 1966-67, working up to a total of over 8,000 machines a year by 1971-72. 501 of t1his output will be made available to the P&T. The rest will go to Defense, Civil Aviation, Railways and various other users. TEEGRAPH SEVICE 21.0 Reference was made in the summary to message telegraph business. This -s a weak spot because of lack of mechanization and manual handling at switching points together with many circuit troubles. In some instances mail is resorted to because of circuit difficulties. During the Third Five Year Plan it was envisaged that in addition to opening of 2,000 new telegraph offices, 26 Automatic Teleprinter Exchanges (Telex) would be opened at principal towns amounting to a total of 2,500 lines. The plan also included introduction of General Telegraph Exchanges (Gentex) for expeditious -transmission of public telegrams. Under the plan 1,200 telegraph offices have been opened by the end of December 1964 and it is expected that the target will be more or less fulfilled. 22.0 Automatic Telex Exchanges are already working in 3cmbay, Calcutta, Delhi and 1adras and exchanges at six more stations are due to be opened within a couple of months. it is expected that by the end of the third plan there will be 16 telex exchanges in existence. 23.0 The improvements contemplated on public telegraph service were: (i) provision of a large number of telegraph circuits interlinking the cities; (ii) provision of faster transit facilities at important centers, and (iii) expediting of the delivery arrangements. 9- 23.1 In regard to (i), the position has considerably improved by the addition of a large number of voice frequency telegraph circuits; 2.,000 chan- nels have been added during the Third Five Year Plan so far and 1,000 more are expected to be added further in the last year of the Plan. The proposals in regard to (ii) and (iii) envisage the provision of Gentex at important centers providing automatic switching of telegraph circuits under the control olf terminal telegraph stations. Details of such a scheme have been worked out for the northern part of the country and the sanction for the installa- tion of a 600 line General Telegraph Exchange at Delhi has been sought. The installation of the equipment, however, is likely to commence only during last year of the Plan. The scheme provides for the transmission of telegrams directly to most of the Telegraph Offices in the region. In larger cities there will be a number of Telegraph Offices connected to this system so that telegrams are routed to points as close to the addressee as possible; thus reducing the effort and time required in delivering them. PERSONNEL, TRAINING AND MEASUREMENTS 24.0 There was reference made in the summary Points (iii) and (iv) to operative handicaps in standards of production and present interpretation of labor policy. This is of course in some degree tied to governmen-, policy and tradition but the handicaps are real and are of sufficient long-term importance as to justify continuous consideration at the highost level. The rapid growth of telecommunication in India, the development of major trunk networks, the forward program of installation of small dialling offices, the program of extending telecommunications to rural areas, together with the possibility of educational television for rural areas, give impor-,ance to the problem of organization. If an integrated telecommunication organiza- tion separated from the Post Office, such as exists in Canada or the Ubited States is not feasible. then it will be essential to have a firm separation of accounts so that it is possible'to determine accurately the financial position of the telecommuni:catioh services of the Department. As the telecommunication system develops, the managemen-, should have the authority to spend funds within their pre-determined budgets but with some flexibility to meet current conditions. In principle, -here should be one line of authority after a budget has received governmental approval. This does not exclude the central government as the final author- ty but it deputizes authority with the power of review and of holding tele- communication management accountable. 25.0 It should be possible for the general manager to establish person- nel and operating procedures and in general have full control of his organi- zation as long as the goals agreed upon in the budget are achieved. 26.0 Outside of these semi-political problems, there appear to be oppor- tunities for improvements within the present organization. From various field operations people information was obtained that fixed work standards of production are established according to which a sanctioned number of per- sonnel is assigned to each function such as outsIde plant, central office - 10 - maintenance, toll clerks, etc. To this is added an allowance for sick leave and other causes of off duty. (Presently this allowance is 10% although ab- sence is subsequently higher). The present standards were introduced in the 1940's, and in many operations, these no longer fit, and a thorough review is over-due. 27.0 Appendix F 11 of the Peat Marwick Mi4tchell & Co, report deals with sampling and quality control., Certain suggestions have been made in this report for periodic reports by districts on certain operations reflecting quality and quantity of performance. These could include billing errors per 100 accounts, plant troubles reported per 1,000 stations, speed of answer at toll boards etc. Where these results are used for comfrparative purposes it is desirable that the observation or checks should be done by personnel out- side of the district of people being tested and that auditors at proper in- tervals a.nd with adequate sampling should check the results to assure manage- ment of the general accuracy of the reports. 28.0 Tn personnel practices and particularly pay scales there appears to be too much dependence on procedures of other government agencies and of the Postal Service. It does not appear to be appreciated that the advanced new techniques in telecommunications such as cross bar switching systems, solid state components and microwave equipment requires specialized and highly trained personnel. The general attitude seems to be that a main . 'tenance man is a maintenance man regardless whether he is responsible for a simple manual office or servicing a complex dial switching unit. As an ex- ample the craft pay scales indicate that the top pay for an outside plant 1 line man is Rs. 95 a month, a sub-inspector earns Rs. 155 per month and cable jointers Rs. 180 per month. For a local exchange man the pay is Rs. 180 per month. These jobs require 3 to 12 months of training. On the other hand, switchboard operators and clerks receive a top pay of Rs. 240 per month and require no more than two months training. 29.0 It should be possible to develop some simple production measure- ments units based on work performed. This could be done through time studies or taking as an objective the performance of the two best districts in each category. It has generally been found that a reasonably productive pace of work increases accuracy and improves morale. Such measurements are usually used for group performance and current results of each district are given each month to every other district. The practical results of these proce- dures is that fewer people are needed. This does not imply a lay off but rather a freeze on added hiring of unskilled labor and the training of suitable candidates for more demanding work. With the expansion planned . this could be accomplished gradually with no decrease in force. Naw equip- ment and tools will lessen maintenance hours but will increase the need for technical qualifications. With the challenging expansion job ahead, with full utilization of plant, such measurements could give added competitive incentive for good performance. 300 This growth in skilled personnel force, with its attendant increased wage rates, rapid changes in force compositions and the introductiDn of clas- sifiiations for new type of jobs might warrant employment of a qualified per-- sonnel manager thoroughly experienced in technical and operations vork, re- porting directly to the mana.gement of the P&T Part of his responsibilities - 11 - would be to establish an analysis of job evaluations in all departments of the P&T and make comparisons with salaries in other government industries and in private business, With proper documentation possibly more could be done in furthering the understanding among other government officials of telephone operating problems. Such an officer because of his work, could also be helpful in dealing with the personnel problems not settled at the local level and to deal with the very real problem of absenteeism. Plant 22erations 31.0 As reflected in the summary, the plant force per thousand lines is shown: 1960 1962 1964 Outside men per 1,000 lines 10.22 10.89 9.42 Indoor men per 1,000 lines 12.13 15.07 15.15 As indicated in the summary, it is difficult to make comparisons. More men are now engaged in installing new equipment, but there are no cur- rent separate figures. These should be kept. No continuous record is main- tained of average time to clear troubles but tests in Bombay show 3.8 hours, Delhi 2.5 hours and 14adras 1.5 hours. There follows a statement cf trouble rates for six principal cities: 32.0 Plant Troubles per Month per 1,000 Lines 1961 1962 1963 1964 Bombay - 628 672 666 Calcutta 158 219 201 2c6 Delhi 509 581 571 481 Madras 600 557 647 6C2 Lucknow - 504 465 438 Kanpur - 725 699 646 These trouble rates are high but are being given special attention by field personnel and the Development Research Center. Because of shortages, tremendous efforts are being made to re-use old equipment. Telephone repair shops are efficient but at some time in the not too distant future, more old sets must be junked if the qpality of service is to improve. 32.1 Of troubles found, the percentages indicated below were on sub- scribers premises, either in the wiring or in the telephone sets: Bombay Calcutta Delhi 1962 1963 19W 1961 1962 1963 1967 1961 1962 1963 1964 73.3 79.5 79.8 83.2 82.6 81.7 80.5 63.6 68 64 59.5 ,adras Lucknow Kanpur 1961 1962 1963 1961 1962 1963 1964 1962 1963 164 35.6 k4.9 52 52 59.5 58.7 60.6 52,4 52.8 52.8 - 12 - The stocks of repaired sets in relation to telephones in service are generally good (in Calcutta 4,000 to 101,000 working). At present Zunk-dng is done after an inspection by a comnittee con- sisting of fairly senior staff. This might be done by the supervisor with random management checks. It is suggested that plastic parts be broken be- fore they are sold for junk. 33.0 Distribution and trunk plant cables are now mostly buried, which is good practice. The problem in large cities is that growth and street widening create difficult conditions because each new cable means digging new ditches. Certainly in the center of cities serious consideration should be given to installing conduits through which additional cables can be pulled. Also in high density areas close to central offices, there is a possibility of using smaller diameter (higher gauge) cable. 34.0 The following samples of trunk circuit efficiency were encountered during my travels: 11pe of % of time circuits in working order circuit Distance f1 724E963 16 Physical 75 miles (ND-Jind) 94' 9.5% 94% 91% circuit 12, " (ND-AB) 85% 84% 95% 91% Open wire 200 " (ND-JP) 95% 93% 94I.' 93 carrier 400 " (ND-JPR) 864 90% 93% 821 1,000 (ND-BY) 90% 86% 92% 88% Symmetrical cable carrier 45 " (IW-KP) 98% 98% 98.5% 98.5% Coaxial 300 " (ND-lW) 98% 97.5% 91% 914 circuits 273 " (ND-KP) 98% 95% 93o 98; 510 " (ND-VS) - - 91% 90% 1,000 (ND-CA) - - 87% 87% Coaxial cables have suffered considerable troubles due to lightning and physical damage due to wash outs and other mechanical interference. The loss of time will be reduced in the future as a result of improved techniques and construction practices e.g. copper wire is now being laid above coaxial cable for protection from lightning. - 13 - 34.1 Efficiency percentage of Trunk Circuits on Routine Tests Circuits Average for the Year 1964 (Jan. - Dec.) 1. Bombay-New Delhi 1 93% 2. Bombay-New Delhi 2 90% 3. Bombay-New Delhi 3 94.5% 4. Bombay-Madras 1 89.7% 5. Bombay-Madras 3 88.5% 6. Bombay-Madras 5 89% 7. Bombay-Poona 1 95.5% 8. Bombay-Poona 2 920 9. Bombay-Poona 3 88.3% 10. 3ombay-Poona 5 91.7% These figures reflect averages of routine testing. The results of these tests should go to all managers and should be monitered from the head office. 35.0 There follows a statement of total telephones now working in India: Total Year Telephones Telephones on Mletered Rate Telephones on Flat Rate Total No. increase dur- ing the year 1959-60 419,000 292,083 - 126,917 1960-61 464,949 31B,813 26,730 146,136 1961-62 514,381 I369,391 50,578 144,990 1962-63 593,546 431,832 62,41 161,714 1963-64 681,179 508,015 76,183 173,164 - 14 - Summary of Recommendations Covered in Report 1. Separate classification of inside men into installers and maintenance men for accounting and control purposes. 2. Periodic report of average time to clear troubleso 3. Periodic analysis of all customer complaints classified by reason. 4. Consider publishing directories at 9 or 12 month intervals instead of 6 months4 5i Deliver directories to customers' premises. 6. A trial of a complete classified directory containing all business customers instead of only those who pay. 7. Ensure provision of facilities for point to point leased direct lines whenever trunk relief is planned and survey large customers for possi- ble use to relieve over-loaded central offices. 8. Establish a small Engineering Sales and Service force to help large customers take full advantage of telephone and telex service offerings. 9. Maintain monthly record (sample) of manual operators speed of answer. 10. Change accounting procedures to classify properly construction expen- ditures. 11. Introduce recorded. announcement in call queuing. 12. Consider organization re-alignment in view of rapid growth of Post Office and Telephone Telegraph functions so that responsibilities are delegated to middle and lower management levels. 13. Establish simple production indices to aid personnel control and super- vision. 14. Establish small group with access to management to keep in touch with all job evaluations including geographic wage levels and pay scales for new jobs. Comparison with other government classifications and jobs in private sector is also important, as well as quality of departmental training procedures. 15. Establish a simplified billing procedure. 16. Use bill inserts to get across service messages to the public, such as off peak calling, use of directory, new service introductions. - 15 - 17. Segregate extremely doubtful and long overdue final bills by charging to a reserve for uncollectable debts. 18. Eliminate registered mail notices of disconnection for non-payment of bills. 19. Provide for junking old equipment by repair supervisor with random spot checks. 20. Service trial of cable conduit in large cities to avoid repeated digging. 21. Distribute periodic transmission measurements done by central staff to all general managers., 22. Periodic report of trunk failures on routine tests. 23. Distribute monthly results of each area manager to all area managers to stimulate competition. 24. Recomended accounting changes should provide for internal audits of results. 25. Use part time employees to help under peak load conditions. 26. Consider use of smaller sized copper conductors in the large underground cables feeding high density telephone areas c.ose to exchanges in the main cities. ATTACH. I INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION OFFICE ME11ORANDUM TO: Mr. Wellington Powell DATE: February 1, 1965 FROM: Christian Finne SUBJECT: Terms of Reference - Indian Telecommunications - Proposed Visit of Engineering Consultant The Bank's associate organization, the International Development Association, has, over the past two years, made credits totalling $70 million to India to assist the financing of a substantial program of expansion of the country's telecommunication system. In general, the Indian telecommunication administration is reasonably well organized and the construction and instal- lation work is, on the whole, proceeding satisfactorily. In the appraisal of the Indian operations only a limitei review was made of the general efficiency of system operations and of existing procedures for obtaining on a consistent basis, information about the quality and ef- ficiency of service rendered and to what extent available information is used to introduce service improvements. In view of the size of the investment made and the possibility of additional credits, the Bank is interested in looking into this problem in some detail in order to give us a better founda- tion for judging whether existing installations are utilized with reasonable efficiency and to what extent improvements in service are achieved by recent additions and extensions to the system. In view of the specialized nature of telecommunication operations including traffic control and supervision, we require outside assistance and your qualifications and experience should be particularly helpful in carrying out this work. Two men of our own staff are at present scheduled to visit India with arrival about February 15 to review the progress of the telecom- munication expansion program and I understand that you can arrange your visit at the same time. We would expect that the work in the field would require some four weeks. During your visit to India customer service and departmental operations of the Indian Posts & Telegraphs (IP&M) as a whole should be re- viewed and examination of the following aspects may be appropriate. 1. Technical quality of service The extent to which the IP& meets the needs for service, particularly of business and industrial communications should be evaluated by a review of a) Data covering the local service in regard to: Percent calls completed -2- Percent calls lost, subdivided by principal causes Freedom from interruptions Dial tone delays Speed of connection Freedom from congestion Transmission characteristics b) In regard to customer relations, data should be collected on: A breakdown of complaints Waiting time for new connections What priorities are given for business or other categories of urgent new connections c) In regard to interarban toll services, data should be obtained covering: Operator answering time Hours of toll circuit outages per month per thousand kilometers of toll circuits Percentage of circuits found satisfactory on routine tests Delays in establishing toll connections Transmission quality 2. The economy of the present operations of the IPeT Department should be studied on the basis of: a) An examination of the number of employees in relation to different categories of the plant (e.g. number of maintenance personnel per thousand lines of automatic equipment). b) Training c) Efficiency of utilization of labor. 3. A concise judgment of the adequacy of future planning is required to determine that it is well directed towards improving telecom- munications service to business and industry. This matter should be considered in. relation to: a) Local service b) Interurban service 4. An examination should be made of the routine returns and materials now collected by the IP&T to give information on their telecom- munication services. Recommendations regarding additionaL informa- tion and material which it is considered desirable to obtain should be made to the Bank. - 3 - I understand that you intend to combine this assignment with other personal travel and that you will proceed to New Delhi from Taiwan and further- more that you will spend some time in Europe after completion of your work in India and before returning to the United States. You will keep a reasonable record of the time you spend during this period on preparing your report on your findings and I understand that you expect to be able to compl3te this report by early May 1965. Cleared with and cc: Mr. G. Votaw cc: Messrs. Aldewereld, Chadenet, Ripman, Marshall (2), Grant, Elofson, and Kaupisch (4) Miss J. Van Gasse (2) Operational Files (3) CF:hak ATTACK. II POSTS AND T2ELEGIY)IS DIRECTORATE 1. Shri Jadeesh Prasad 1lember (Telecom. Development) . " Kanjilal Lember (Telecom. Operations) . .1 . Langanathan Dy. Director General (Stores & laintenance) " iama Kant Dy. -Director General (Switching) . " G.U. -enon Dy. fDirector General (Long Distance) 6. " agarwal Dy. Director General (Telegraphs) 7 .-. iankaranarayan Dy. Chief Engineer (Coordination Planning) 1. -.-. ai r Director Phones (-Engineering) . Joshi Director Phones (Traffic) 10. " '. . Reddi -Dy. Chief Engineer (Training) TELECU UNICATICN 1RESEARCH CIM2RE 1. 1,ri C.i,. Vasudevan D'irector of Research . .]. Taskar Dy. Director (Switching) ..3. Subramanian Dy. Director (Transmission) m. 3.1. Shanta Dy. Director (Transmission) . JIri a.. ramadoss Dy. Director (Transmission) T.L:CC UiNICATICNS DELHI 1. 3hri J.J,. 'm,chandani General Yanager Telephones S.7. Rana Dy. General kanager (ing.) 3. " A. Bihattacharya Dy. General Ilanager (Administration) . " C.3. Barve Divisional Engineer (Phones, Uis Hazari Exchango 3. " 1. Kameswara Rao Regional Director (Telecom.) . " 3. 'laghavachari Chief Accounts Officer (Telephone Revenue) -2- 7. Shri TO.R. Bah1 Asstt. General Manager (Commercial) 8. " P.N. Kaul Asstt; General Mlanager (Trunks) 9. " K.L. Goyal Accounts Officer (Trunk & Foreit-n Revenue) 10. " B.K. Berry Accounts Officer, Telephone Revenue (Local Revenue) TiLE2COMNI TCATIO CALCUTTA 1. Shri J.R. Sen Gupta General Manager (Telephones) 2. " H.P. Lukherjee Dy. General Hanager (Mlaintenance) 3. A.K. Ghosh Divisional Eingineer (Telephones) '. Capt. G.C. Chatterjee Divisional Engineer (Trunk Exchange) . Shri S.C. Samuel Asstt. Engineer (Repair Shop) 6. Lrs. Rodrigues Asstt. Traffic Supdt. (Auto Kanual Services) TELEC01,!NTCATIONS LADRAS 1. Shri B.K. Anantaraman District Tanager 2. " R.P. Subramaniam D.E. Phones (North) 3. " .N. Subba Rao D.E. Phones (South) . " A.S. Iyer D.". Phones (Equipt. P1g. & Installation) . " T. Sethuraman D.E. Phones (Administration) TL!EC(:. UNICATICNS HYDERABAD 1. Chri T.G. Reddi District Ianager 2. A.V. Rayudu D.E. Phones (Internal) 3. K.S. RaChunathan D.E. Phones (External) -3- (a) Bombay Telephones Shri 7.S. Iuthanna General Manager " S.Y. Tadkarni Dy. General Manager (Planning) " V.A. .Dutt D.E.T. Auto Installation J.B. Vatcha D.E.T. Auto Installation (b) Bombay Telephone Workshop Shri I.K. Gupta General M'anager, P&T Workshops 1.1.. agle hanager, Bombay Telephone Workshops I Lan.la Prasad Sr. Engineer Production George 141ani Asstt. Manager Workshop (c) Rajasthan P&T Circle, Jaipur Mhri H.C. 12athur D.E.T. Jaipur " D.5. Nangpal Deputy Director Engineering, Rajasthan P&T Circle. 7 ATTACI. III QUALITY OF SFriVICE TO LOCAL TELEPHWIS SUBSCiIBEHS. Telephone Bombay. Calcutta. Delhi. Madras. Lucknow. Kanput. systems. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- - - - - - 6 6 64. 61 62 63 64 61 62 63 64 61 162 63 64 6L' 62 03 64 1 62 63 64 For years: *-------------------------i-i-- 1.Percentage 78 71.0 71.870.3162. 62. 65. 54.3 .4 65. 59.7 53 60 63 65 - 62.7 65.9 66.5 -58.4 62.3 65.9 calls com- 7 4 1 0 ------ ------------------------------------------------- ----------- -- -- ---------- 2.Percentage 22 29.0 28.2 29.7 37. 37. 34. 35.7 - 4.6 35. 40,3 47 40 37 35 - 37.3 34.1 33.5 - 41.6 37.7 34.1 calls lost. 3 6 9 0 (a)Plant en- 3.4 3.4 '4.3 5.9 0. 0.7 0.64 1.05 - 1.2 1.0 1.0 6.0 3.0 3.0 2.0 - 4.5 4.5 6.0 - 0.9 2.2 0.6 gaged. 97 (b)tone 0.1 0.4 0.8 0.9:1. 2.3 1.9 2.7 - 3.0 2.0 1.1 - - - - - 0.2 0.1 0.1 - 1.2 0.3 2.9 7 (c)wrong - - - - .1 0.1 0.1 0.2 - 1.0 1.0 0.5 6.0 4.0 2.0 2.0 - - - - - 0.8 1.4 0.5 number. (a) Number 13.0 0.9 16.8 18.2 29.8 26.9 - 22.0 29.9 29.0 29. - 25.7 23.7 20.5 - 24.8 21.8 20.2 engaged. 0.23 27.9 P3.0 30.0 28,0, (e)N.U.Tone. - 0.4 0.2 0.2!0.25 - 0.4 1.0 0.5 - - 0.2 0.2 0.31 - 0.2 0.1 0.1' (f)lo reply. 4. 3.6 4.6 3.5 3.1 4.3 3.9 4.4 - 6.3 6.0 5.6 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.0 - 5.8 5.0 5.9 - 5.4 5.6 4.9 (g)others. 0.6 0.7 *1.71.2 0. 0.2 0.3i0.2 0.7 1, 1.7 3.0 2.0 1.0 1.0 - 0.9 0.6 0.7 - 8.3 6.3 4.9 * Includes wrong No. !iTCl, IV Uaitinalist a tn at ineer the years. Bombay7 d4itc. t.alcutta uiet. DeLÄi u4ttrct~. Maedra istrict. Lm Jate of ålat e of Dat* It.. 1961 1962 1963 1964 *lae 1961 1 62 1963 1964 olaest 1961 1962 1963 196 of 1961 192 1963 64 appli- appli- od- eation. c atIco. appla -~~~~~~ ~ ~ ~ ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 1.Geral 1165 12350 12515 12516 32600 3520 44310 53496 21.11. 3585 M582 32675 35966 21.10 9512 12697 cale- 1957 1956. 8t195 12576 06 2b172 33135 40370 A1.12. 5 - Cuarr enG GW. 34 ^9 1411 1.5.64 Iaa.*«I 472 176« 2.0..T.2006 2672 31354037 al12.5 --currnt - et. rret.ante -** bl. 3.4&sq- 1917 23W 2605 2643 30.9.56 1360 1600 L846 1976 12.5. 327 617 990 1482 27.4. 255 270 314 1 4 ted 1959. 1958. gury. 64~e Ital: 33618 40863 -055 55529 - 33960 40120 46156 55472 - 30912 352M6 339L4 3~-79 - 9767 9165 13683 12 1.1 1. GM.GSerr ... $000 1 000 75000 2. ~.iSAT ... 6900 36700 75000 3. MÅA ... 5500 00 30000 4. 8~1. ... 35C 3800 75000 AUTACH. V 1M ID OD)ER PROCEDURES Due to all-round development in the country in various fields, ihe de and for telephone connections are generated at a much faster rate than our development programme. The supplies fall short of the demand. The result is that the available telephones are to be rationed out in an appropriate manner so as to meet emergent and important demands which have justifiable claims on priority basis. A scheme known "Own Your Tolephone ocheme" is in force on 11 stations in the country; these are major important towns in the country such as Bombay, Calcutta, Delhi, Eadras, Ahmedabad, etc. Under this scheme, the applicant has to pay Rs. 2,000/- (R1s. 2,500 in case of Calcutta and Bombay) as an advance rental for a period of 20 years. The applicants applying under this scheme are given telephone cDnnections under priority over the applicants under the general category. In the telephone systems where the 0NY scheme is in force, the OYT applicants are first provide6 connections. Normally 7Q; of the available capacity is reserved Lor yiving connections under the OYT Scheme. After meeting the OYT demands, if the spare capacity still permits, the applicants under the general category are also provided with telephone connections. In order that the applicants who cannot pay the OYT deposit and have a justifiable claim, a certain quota of the spare capacity is reserved for the applicants under the exempted category at OYT stations. This quota is 30,j of the total spare capacity. The exempted category applicants consist of the applicants falling under Press, Doctors, Public men, Public Tnstations, Small Scale Industries, etc. At the stations where the CYT scheme is not in force, the tele- phone connections are also given to certain priority categories of applicants. -2- This priority category consists of Press, Doctors, Publicmen, Public Institu- lions, Small Scale Industries, etc. The quota reserved for priority category applicants is 301 of the total spare capacity. At 0YT as well as non-0YT stations demands from important commercial and in:ustrial organizations can also be met on priority on the recommendation of Central and State Governments at the discretion of the Heads of P&T Circles/Districts. Thos,industries which earn foreign exchange or save .o:-ei,gn exchange are Civen due consideration in the matter of allotment of telephone. Telephone Advisory Committee consisting of important persons from the public, trade, commercet pressq etc. have also been constituted at important places. The function of these committees is to advise the local telephone exchange administration on important telephone matters such as telephone allotment on priority to certain category of applicants, extension of telephone servicesq etc.