TRAI Mizoram Mobile Network Quality Assessment

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released findings from an Independent Drive Test (IDT) conducted across Lunglei, Lawngtlai, and Siaha districts and adjoining areas in Mizoram under the North East LSA during May 2026. The purpose of the drive test was to assess and verify real-time quality of mobile network services (both voice and data) provided by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) by capturing performance on key Quality of Service parameters including coverage, call drop rate, call setup success rate, and data download/upload throughput.

The drive testing methodology involved establishing live data and voice sessions using SIM cards from all TSPs over 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G networks using multiple advanced test handsets monitored in real-time with advanced software systems. The tests were conducted by TRAI's appointed agency under the supervision of the TRAI Regional Office Kolkata from 20th to 23rd May 2026, covering 342.4 km of city drives, 11 hotspot locations, and 1.3 km of walk tests.

Key Performance Findings

Coverage gap analysis revealed significant signal strength issues across providers: Airtel showed 11,270 poor signal samples out of 46,398 total samples (24.3% gap), BSNL had 17,449 poor out of 32,964 samples (52.9% gap), RJIL recorded 11,790 poor out of 47,107 samples (25.0% gap), and VIL demonstrated 14,928 poor out of 26,469 samples (56.4% gap).

Call drop rates varied considerably among providers: Airtel experienced 21 dropped calls out of 334 established calls (6.3% drop rate), BSNL had 50 drops out of 222 calls (22.5% drop rate), RJIL showed the best performance with only 7 drops out of 344 calls (2.0% drop rate), while VIL had 46 drops out of 207 calls (22.2% drop rate).

Call silence instances (silence >3 seconds) were observed across all networks: Airtel had 45 instances out of 310 calls, BSNL recorded 7 instances out of 151 calls, RJIL experienced 34 instances out of 331 calls, and VIL showed 4 instances out of 121 calls.

Data performance metrics revealed substantial disparities in download speeds: Airtel achieved 59.88 Mbps average download speed (5G/4G), BSNL recorded only 5.46 Mbps (4G/2G), RJIL delivered the highest at 69.89 Mbps (5G/4G), and VIL reached 16.05 Mbps (5G/4G/2G). Upload speeds followed a similar pattern: Airtel at 11.83 Mbps, BSNL at 2.10 Mbps, RJIL at 5.22 Mbps, and VIL at 3.43 Mbps.

Geographical Coverage Details

The city drive covered multiple towns including Buangpui, N.Mualthuam, Mausen, Thuampui, Lunglei, Thaizawl, Bualte, North Tawipui, Thingfal, Lawngtlai, Saikah, Kawlchaw East, Zero Point, Siaha, Chawntlangpui, Saizawh East, Ngengpuitlang, Lawnglang, Lawngtlaikai, and Zochachhuah in Lunglei, Lawngtlai, and Siaha districts.

Hotspot testing covered 11 key locations: Border Road Organisation Centre-Lawngtlai; D.C. Office L-III-Lawngtlai; District Court Building-Siaha; District Court-Lunglei; District Hospital-Siaha; Government Siaha College NH 54B-Siaha; Lawngtlai Bazar National Highway 54-Lawngtlai; Lawngtlai District Hospital Chandmary-Lawngtlai; Lunglei Government College-Lunglei; Postal Office of India Post Office Building NH2 Chandmary-Lawngtlai; and Zotlang Higher Secondary School Serkawn-Lunglei.

Walk tests were conducted at Civil Hospital-Lunglei and Government Lawngtlai College-Lawngtlai to capture mobile network behavior in crowded pedestrian environments during 20th-21st May 2026.

The findings have been shared with respective TSPs for necessary corrective actions, and detailed reports are available on the TRAI website at www.trai.gov.in. For clarifications, stakeholders can contact the TRAI Regional Office at Kolkata via email (adv.kolkata@trai.gov.in) or telephone (+91-33-22361401).