TRAI releases report on independent drive tests conducted in Kerala LSA, UP West LSA, Andhra Pradesh LSA, Himachal Pradesh LSA, Gujarat LSA and Odisha LSA

Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has conducted an Independent Drive Tests (IDT) in cities/highways/railway/coastal area of Hyderabad [Andhra Pradesh licensed service area (LSA)], city and railway route of Shimla (Himachal Pradesh LSA), Alappuzha and Alappuzha Backwaters (Kerala LSA), Dehradun (UP West LSA), Rajkot (Gujarat LSA), Highway route of Visakhapatnam to Brahmapur, Railway route from Brahmapur to Bhubaneswar and Coastal area of Paradeep (Odisha LSA). Drive tests were conducted to assess the quality of service provided by cellular mobile telephone service providers for voice and data services in February 2025.

In the 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 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 Alappuzha City and Alappuzha Backwaters- Kerala LSA, Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have call setup success rate of 100.00 per cent, 96.46 per cent, 100.00 per cent and 98.58 per cent respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have call setup time of 1.18, 1.27, 0.52 and 1.01 seconds respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have drop call rate of 0.00 per cent, 2.24 per cent, 0.00 per cent and 0.00 per cent respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have silence call rate 0.25 per cent, 2.04 per cent, 0.00 per cent and 2.49 per cent respectively in packet switched network (4G/5G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have MOS of 4.06, 3.62, 3.94 and 4.51 respectively. Meanwhile, BSNL and Vi operating on 4G/3G technologies have average download speed of 9.50 Mbps and 24.23 Mbps respectively. Whereas, Airtel and Jio operating on 4G/5G technologies have average download speed of 183.56 Mbps and 332.98 Mbps respectively. BSNL and Vi operating on 4G/3G technology have average upload speed of 6.36 Mbps and 5.73 Mbps respectively. Whereas, Airtel and Jio operating on 4G/5G technology have average upload speed of 25.59 Mbps and 24.08 Mbps respectively.

In Dehradun City- UP West LSA, Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have call setup success rate of 100 per cent, 87.92 per cent, 100 per cent and 99.80 per cent respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have call setup time of 0.89, 4.15, 0.77 and 0.64 seconds respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have drop call rate of 0 per cent, 3.43 per cent, 0.20 per cent and 0 per cent respectively in auto selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have silence call rate of 2.51 per cent, 5.82 per cent, 0.77 per cent and 1.49 per cent respectively in packet switched network (4G/5G). Further, Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have MOS of 4.02, 2.98, 3.90 and 4.40 respectively. BSNL and Vi operating on 4G/3G technologies have average download speed of 6.82 Mbps and 32.74 Mbps respectively. Whereas, Airtel and Jio operating on 4G/5G technologies have average download speed of 140.27 Mbps and 273.42 Mbps respectively. BSNL and Vi operating on 4G/3G technology have average upload speed of 3.36 and 14.36 Mbps, respectively. Whereas, Airtel and Jio operating on 4G/5G technology have average upload speed of 25.29 Mbps and 30.49 Mbps respectively.

In Shimla – Himachal Pradesh LSA, Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have call setup success rate of 98.55 per cent, 93.79 per cent, 98.57 per cent and 90.93 per cent respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have call setup time of 1.36, 3.65, 0.86, and 2.45 seconds in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have drop call rate of 0.73 per cent, 11.27 per cent, 1.69 per cent and 2.43 per cent respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Airtel, Jio and Vi have silence call rate 0.41 per cent, 0.42 per cent and 2.75 per cent respectively in packet switched network (4G/5G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have MOS score of 3.91, 2.53, 3.81 and 3.79 respectively. Furthermore, BSNL and Vi operating on 4G/3G technologies have average download speed of 6.22 Mbps and 12.56 Mbps respectively. Whereas, Airtel and Jio operating on 4G/5G technologies have average download speed of 128.12 Mbps and 165.62 Mbps respectively. BSNL and Vi operating on 4G/3G technology have average upload speed of 3.00 and 4.51 Mbps, respectively. Whereas, Airtel and Jio operating on 4G/5G technology have average upload speed of 16.79 Mbps and 17.62 Mbps respectively.

In Visakhapatnam to Brahmapur Highway and Brahmapur to Bhubaneswar Railway Route and Paradeep Coastal area – Odisha LSA, Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have call setup success rate of 97.89 per cent, 87.44 per cent, 97.41 per cent and 95.05 per cent respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have call setup time of 3.55, 3.86, 1.13 and 1.20 seconds respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have drop call rate of 0.54 per cent, 12.23 per cent, 0.53 per cent and 4.69 per cent respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have silence call rate of 1.09 per cent, 1.55 per cent, 0.99 per cent and 2.04 per cent respectively in packet switched network (4G/5G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have MOS of quality of 3.95, 2.75, 3.93 and 3.88 respectively. Furthermore, BSNL and Vi operating on 4G/3G technologies have average download speed of 7.33 Mbps and 25.78 Mbps respectively. Whereas Airtel and Jio operating on 4G/5G technologies have average download speed of 77.00 Mbps and 290.04 Mbps respectively. BSNL and Vi operating on 4G/3G technology have average upload speed of 5.42 and 10.63 Mbps, respectively. Whereas, Airtel and Jio operating on 4G/5G technology have average upload speed of 26.50 Mbps and 20.12 Mbps respectively.

In Hyderabad City- Andhra Pradesh LSA, Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have call setup success rate of 99.38 per cent, 98.66 per cent, 96.69 per cent and 99.16 per cent respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have call setup time of 3.98, 2.36, 0.58 and 0.62 seconds respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have drop call rate of 0 per cent, 2.34 per cent, 0.24 per cent and 0.12 per cent respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Airtel, Jio and Vi have silence rate of 0.59 per cent, 1.32 per cent and 0.44 per cent respectively in packet switched network (4G/5G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have MOS score of 4.02, 2.91, 3.91 and 3.78 respectively. Moreover, BSNL and Vi operating on 4G/3G technologies have average download speed of 3.31 Mbps and 24.04 Mbps respectively. Whereas, Airtel and Jio operating on 4G/5G technologies have average download speed of 146.96 Mbps and 240.66 Mbps respectively. BSNL and Vi operating on 4G/3G technology have average upload speed of 2.36 and 10.23 Mbps respectively. Whereas, Airtel and Jio operating on 4G/5G technology have average upload speed of 37.71 Mbps and 23.05 Mbps, respectively.

In Rajkot City- Gujarat LSA, Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have call setup success rate of 99.85 per cent, 91.75 per cent, 99.86 per cent and 100 per cent respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have call setup time of 1.25, 1.56, 0.72 and 0.77 seconds respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have drop call rate of 0 per cent, 0.90 per cent, 0.14 per cent and 0.15 per cent respectively in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have silence rate of 0.00 per cent, 6.95 per cent, 0.56 per cent and 0.56 per cent respectively in packet switched network (4G/5G). Airtel, BSNL, Jio and Vi have MOS of 4.02, 2.91, 3.91 and 4.53 respectively. In addition, BSNL and Vi operating on 4G/3G technologies have average download speed of 7.10 Mbps and 36.49 Mbps respectively. Whereas, Airtel and Jio operating on 4G/5G technologies have average download speed of 171.24 Mbps and 174.46 Mbps respectively. BSNL and Vi operating on 4G/3G technology have average upload speed of 3.93 and 18.84 Mbps respectively. Whereas, Airtel and Jio operating on 4G/5G technology have average upload speed of 26.94 Mbps and 32.91 Mbps, respectively.