Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has conducted an Independent Drive Tests (IDT) in five cities namely Mysuru City (Karnataka Licensed Service Area (LSA)), Dharamshala City (Himachal Pradesh LSA), Chennai City (Tamil Nadu LSA), Chandigarh City (Punjab LSA) and Kolkata City (Kolkata LSA). Drive tests were conducted to assess the quality of service provided by cellular mobile telephone service providers for voice and data services in November 2024.
In IDT, the performance of Bharti Airtel, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL)/ Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL), Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited and Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi), providing services in a LSA through various technologies (like 2G/ 3G/ 4G/ 5G) for voice and data, has been measured by conducting drive test. The observations presented in drive test reports represent the performance of the service providers on the area/ route under test on the day/ time of conducting the drive test.
The key performance indicators (KPIs) for voice as well as data service assessed for the networks of all telecom service providers operating in the region included call setup success rate, drop call rate, speech quality using mean opinion score (MOS), downlink and uplink packet (voice) drop rate, call silence rate and coverage- signal strength, under voice services. Meanwhile, data throughput (downlink and uplink both), packet drop rate (downlink and uplink), video streaming delay, latency and jitter, under data services were considered.
In Mysuru City and Mysuru-Malavalli highway, as per the report, the call setup success rate of Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi were 100.00 per cent, 98.96 per cent, 100.00 per cent and 98.81 per cent respectively. Further, BSNL took comparatively longer time (3.80 seconds) to establish the voice call, whereas for Airtel, Jio and Vi, the call setup times were 1.12, 0.70 and 1.12 second respectively in open mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Furthermore, BSNL’s overall call drop rate (3.46 per cent) was higher than the QoS benchmark of 2 per cent, while Airtel, Jio and Vi had 0.00 per cent, 0.15 per cent and 0.30 per cent respectively. In packet switched network (4G/5G), Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi had 2.40 per cent, 1.50 per cent, 0.22 per cent and 1.30 per cent silence call rate respectively. The quality of speech of Airtel (3.96), BSNL (2.66), Jio (3.89) and Vi (3.90) and was less than four.
Moreover, Data Download performance (Dynamic) of BSNL (3.96 Mbps) and Vi (19.63 Mbps), operating on 4G/3G_ technologies, have comparatively lower average download speeds. In contrast, Airtel and Jio achieve significantly higher average download speeds of 164.66 Mbps and 243.10 Mbps in 4G/5G technology. Data Upload performance (Dynamic) of BSNL (2.57 Mbps) and Vi (11.90 Mbps), operating on 4G/3G technologies, have comparatively lower average upload speeds. In contrast, Airtel and Jjio offer faster speeds of 37.76 Mbps and 25.14 Mbps, respectively in 4G/5G technology.
In Dharamshala City, Kangra, Palampur and Baijnath connecting route Himachal Pradesh LSA, Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi had 100.00 per cent, 95.94 per cent, 100.00 per cent and 98.92 per cent call setup success rate respectively. Owing to circuit switched network (3G/2G), BSNL took comparatively longer time (3.77 second) to establish the voice call, whereas for Airtel, Jio and Vi call setup time was 1.20, 0.96 and 2.09 second respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Meanwhile, Airtel, BSNL and Vi had 0 per cent call drop rate, while Jio had call drop rate of 0.36 per cent. In packet switched network (4G/5G), Airtel, Jio and Vi had 0.48 per cent, 0.00 per cent and 0.47 per cent silence call rate respectively. MOS quality of speech of Airtel (4.02) and Vi (4.01) had MOS score more than four, whereas Jio (3.90) and BSNL (3.02) had relatively lower MOS service.
Meanwhile, BSNL (3.71 Mbps) and Vi (16.87 Mbps) being on 3G and 4G as top had comparatively lower average download speeds. While Airtel and Jio had average download speed of 223.90 Mbps and 267.87 Mbps respectively in 4G/5G technology. Further, BSNL (2.89 Mbps) and Vi (5.78 Mbps), operating on 3G and 4G respectively, had comparatively lower average upload speeds. In contrast, Airtel and Jio had faster speeds of 25.47 Mbps and 23.71 Mbps, respectively in 4G/5G technology.
In Chennai, Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi had 100.00 per cent, 97.00 per cent, 99.88 per cent and 100.00 per cent call setup success rate respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Furthermore, BSNL took comparatively longer call setup time (4.34 second) to establish the voice call, whereas for Airtel, Jio and Vi call setup time was 0.41, 0.72 and 1.64 seconds respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). BSNL’s overall drop call rate (2.19 per cent) was higher (QoS benchmark is 2 per cent), while Airtel, Jio and Vi had 0.00 per cent, 1.11 per cent and 0.00 per cent drop call rate respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). In packet switched network (4G/5G), Airtel, Jio and Vi had 0.43 per cent, 0.59 per cent and 0.86 per cent silence call rates respectively. MOS quality of speech of Airtel (4.55) and Vi (4.06) had MOS score more than four, whereas Jio (3.96) and BSNL (2.90) has relatively lower MOS score.
In addition, BSNL (2.69 Mbps) and Vi (20.06 Mbps), being on 3G and 4G as top technology respectively, had comparatively lower average download speeds. While Airtel and Jio had average download speed of 167.12 Mbps and 231.12 Mbps respectively in 4G/5G technology. Further, BSNL (3.32 Mbps) and Vi (12.58 Mbps) being on 3G and 4G as top technology respectively, had comparatively lower average upload data speeds. While Airtel and Jio had average upload speed of 42.12 Mbps and 29.06 Mbps respectively in 4G/5G technology.
In Chandigarh, Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi had 99.91 per cent, 99. 47 per cent, 99.92 per cent and 99.58 per cent call setup success rate respectively. Owing to circuit switched network (3G/2G), BSNL had taken comparatively longer time (6.69 second) to establish the voice call, whereas Airtel, Jio and Vi call setup time was 1.39, 0.76 and 1.27 second respectively. BSNL’s overall call drop rate (2.85 per cent) was higher (QoS benchmark of 2 per cent), while Airtel, Jio and Vi had 0.00 per cent, 0.33 per cent and 0.00 per cent drop call rate respectively. In packet switched network (4G/5G), Airtel, Jio and Vi had 0.60 per cent, 0.71 per cent and 1.07 per cent silence call rate respectively. MOS quality of speech of Vi (3.99), Airtel (3.93), RJIL (3.90) and BSNL (2.61) was less than four.
Further, BSNL (5.84 Mbps) and Vi (29.68 Mbps) being on 3G and 4G as top technology respectively, had comparatively lower average download speeds. Airtel and Jio had average download speeds of 184.19 Mbps and 218.04 Mbps respectively in 4G/5G technology. BSNL (3.09 Mbps) and Vi (12.88 Mbps) being on 3G and 4G as top technology respectively, had comparatively lower average upload speeds. While Airtel and Jio had average upload speed of 27.38 Mbps and 25.91 Mbps respectively in 4G/5G technology.
In Kolkata, Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi had 100.00 per cent, 99.23 per cent, 100.00 per cent and 100.00 per cent call setup success rate respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Owing to circuit switched network (3G/2G), BSNL took comparatively longer time (4.00 second) to establish the voice call, whereas Airtel, Jio and Vi call setup time was 0.73, 0.56 and 0.85 second respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Overall BSNL’s call drop rate (2.07 per cent) was higher (QoS benchmark of 2 per cent), while Airtel, Jio and Vi had 0.00 per cent, 0.25per cent and 0.00 per cent drop call rate respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). In packet switched network (4G/5G), Airtel, Jio and Vi had 0.33 per cent, 0.33 per cent and 3.25 per cent silence call rate respectively. MOS quality of speech of Vi (4.28) and Airtel (4.03) had MOS score more than four, whereas Jio (3.89) and BSNL (2.91) had relatively lower MOS score.
Furthermore, BSNL (1.95 Mbps) and Vi (28.92 Mbps) being on 3G and 4G as top comparatively lower average download speeds. While Airtel and Jio had average download speed of 210.84 Mbps and 309.07 Mbps respectively in 4G/5G technology. technology respectively. BSNL (1.68 Mbps) and Vi (11.27 Mbps) being on 3G and 4G as top technology respectively, had comparatively lower average upload speeds. While Airtel and Jio have average upload speed of 47.87 Mbps and 35.14 Mbps respectively in 4G/5G technology.
