Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in March 2025 conducted independent drive tests across highways to review the quality of service provided by telecom operators for voice and data services. These drive tests were aimed to evaluate key performance indicators such as call setup success rate, drop call rate (DCR), speech quality (using Mean Opinion Score), packet drop rates for downlink and uplink, call silence rate, and network coverage, as per TRAI’s data and report.
The TRAI found that in the call setup success rate criteria, Reliance Jio and Vodafone shined as they were efficient in most of those drive tests routes. Reliance Jio was better in call setup time across all drive test routes, signalling it establishes voice connections faster than others.
In data segment (download and upload) too, Jio shined as the highest-speed data internet services provider. On the download side, it was the best service provider on all the routes and during upload, Jio was on top among these five routes. Airtel shinned on the other two routes, as per the report.
What’s For Airtel?
Talking about the call drop category, Airtel shined more than anyone else. It was the best performer in the 5 routes out of the 7, which were tested. The telecom operator had the least call drop rates there. Moreover, Airtel also led in call silence performance, as per TRAI’s analysis, showcasing its operational efficiency.
On the other side, BSNL did not excel in any of the parameters compared to the other telecom operators.
Routes Tested
TRAI, through its appointed agency, conducted Independent Drive Tests (IDT) in Cities/ Highways/ Railway/ Coastal area of Nagpur city (Maharashtra LSA), Prayagraj city and railway route from Prayagraj to Kanpur (UP East LSA), Mumbai city and highway route from Mumbai to Pune Expressway, Railway route from Mumbai Central to Vasai Road and coastal area from the Gateway of India to Elephanta Caves (Mumbai and Maharashtra LSA), Ambala city (Haryana LSA), Chennai city and highway route from Chennai to Coimbatore and railway routes from Vijayawada to Chennai and Coimbatore to Chennai (Tamil Nadu LSA), Srinagar city (Jammu & Kashmir LSA) and Indore city (Madhya Pradesh LSA).
