THEBUSINESSBYTES BUREAU

NEW DELHI, JULY 2, 2026

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the findings of its Independent Drive Test (IDT) conducted across Ganjam, Gajapati and Rayagada districts of Odisha, offering a comprehensive assessment of the quality of mobile network services provided by telecom operators in the region. The exercise, carried out in April 2026, evaluated real-time voice and data performance across urban areas, public hotspots and key transport locations, providing consumers with an objective comparison of network quality while encouraging telecom service providers to further strengthen their infrastructure.

The drive tests were conducted from April 23 to 25, 2026, covering a city drive distance of 446 kilometres and eight major hotspot locations under the supervision of TRAI's Regional Office, Hyderabad. The assessment examined the performance of all telecom service providers using live voice and data sessions across 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G networks through advanced test handsets and real-time monitoring software.

The objective of the Independent Drive Test is to verify the actual on-ground quality of mobile services by measuring critical Quality of Service (QoS) parameters, including network coverage, Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR), Drop Call Rate (DCR), call setup time, speech quality, call silence instances, download and upload throughput, latency, jitter and packet drop rate.

According to the findings, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL) emerged as the best performer in overall data download speeds, recording an average throughput of 186.07 Mbps on its 5G and 4G network. Bharti Airtel followed with an average download speed of 81.74 Mbps, while Vodafone Idea Limited (VIL) recorded 17.91 Mbps and BSNL posted 6.71 Mbps on its 3G network.

In upload performance, Airtel led the rankings with an average upload speed of 18.09 Mbps, followed by RJIL at 13.46 Mbps, Vodafone Idea at 9.63 Mbps, and BSNL at 3.54 Mbps.

The report also highlighted variations in network coverage among operators. During voice testing conducted in auto-selection mode across 5G, 4G, 3G and 2G networks, Airtel registered poor signal strength in 5,648 out of 37,277 samples collected. BSNL recorded poor signal strength in 14,768 out of 35,428 samples, while RJIL reported 4,976 instances out of 44,323 samples. Vodafone Idea registered 3,910 poor signal strength samples out of 17,533 observations.

For areas with limited or no coverage, Airtel recorded 6,939 instances out of 37,277 samples, BSNL reported 4,807 out of 35,428 samples, RJIL registered only 975 out of 44,323 samples, while Vodafone Idea recorded 13,448 instances out of 17,533 samples.

In terms of call reliability, Vodafone Idea reported the best dropped-call performance, with zero dropped calls out of 156 successfully established calls. RJIL recorded seven dropped calls out of 406 successful calls, Airtel reported 10 dropped calls out of 325 successful calls, while BSNL registered 33 dropped calls out of 308 successful calls.

The assessment also examined call silence instances — periods exceeding three seconds during an active call. Airtel recorded 23 such instances out of 340 established calls, BSNL reported 14 out of 212 calls, RJIL observed 14 out of 385 calls, while Vodafone Idea registered 17 silence instances out of 137 calls.

TRAI noted that the observations represent network performance only on the specific routes, locations, dates and times during which the tests were conducted.

The extensive drive covered several important locations across southern Odisha. In Ganjam district, the assessment included Ganjam, Chatrapur, Arjyapalli, Gopalpur, Brahmapur, Chikiti, Patrapur, Jarada, Pudamari, Dengausta and Digapahandi. In Gajapati district, testing covered Uppalada, Paralakhemundi, Kurigam, Kashinagar, Birikota, Mohana, Chandragiri, Jeerango, Mahendragada and Luhagudi. The Rayagada district drive included Gunupur, Kujendri, Gumuda, Padmapur, Akhusingi, Kenduguda and adjoining locations.

In addition to city routes, TRAI also assessed network quality at major public hotspots, including Ganjam Railway Station, Gopalpur Beach, Gunupur Bus Stand, Market Street in Paralakhemundi, Mohana Market, Paralakhemundi Bus Stand, R. Udayagiri Market and Rayagada Market.