TRAI Mobile Network Quality Assessment for South Tripura District
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released findings from an Independent Drive Test conducted across South Tripura District and adjoining areas in the North East LSA during May 13-16, 2026. The assessment aimed to verify real-time quality of mobile network services (voice and data) provided by Telecom Service Providers, measuring key Quality of Service parameters including coverage, call drop rate, call setup success rate, and data download/upload throughput.
Testing Methodology and Scope
The drive test covered 244.2 kilometers of city drives, 9 hotspot locations, and 1.6 kilometers of walk tests across multiple locations including Rajnagar, Belonia, Paikhola, Rajapur, Santirbazar, Baikhora, Jolaibari, Gardhang, Bhuratali, Manu Bazar, Kalachara, Sabroom, Baishnabpur, Dakshin Manu Bankul, and Matai. Hotspot testing included stationary user experience assessments at Belonia Sub Post Office, District Court Belonia, District Hospital Santirbazar, Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar College Belonia, Jolaibari BDO Office, Manu H.S. School, Sabroom Sub-Divisional Hospital, Court of Additional District and Sessions Judge Sabroom, and Trishna Wild Life Sanctuary. Walk tests were conducted at Sabroom Railway Station Paschim Jalefa and Sub-Division Hospital Belonia to capture network behavior in crowded pedestrian environments.
Performance Metrics Results
Coverage gap analysis revealed Airtel had 6,217 poor signal samples out of 30,754 total samples (20.21% gap), BSNL showed 11,854 poor signals out of 28,800 samples (41.16% gap), Reliance Jio recorded 7,590 poor signals out of 35,527 samples (21.36% gap), and Vodafone Idea had 8,627 poor signals out of 19,553 samples (44.12% gap).
Call drop rates varied significantly among providers: Airtel experienced 9 dropped calls out of 221 established calls (4.07% drop rate), BSNL had 22 drops out of 176 calls (12.5% drop rate), Reliance Jio showed only 2 drops out of 254 calls (0.79% drop rate), while Vodafone Idea recorded 24 drops out of 148 calls (16.22% drop rate).
Call silence instances (silence >3 seconds) were observed across all providers: Airtel had 17 instances out of 201 calls (8.46%), BSNL recorded 24 instances out of 131 calls (18.32%), Reliance Jio showed 20 instances out of 244 calls (8.20%), and Vodafone Idea had 6 instances out of 99 calls (6.06%).
Data performance showed Airtel achieving the highest average download speed at 88.67 Mbps (5G/4G) and upload speed at 17.32 Mbps. Reliance Jio recorded 46.11 Mbps download and 3.83 Mbps upload speeds. Vodafone Idea showed 35.19 Mbps download and 6.84 Mbps upload speeds. BSNL demonstrated the lowest performance with 10.64 Mbps download and 3.25 Mbps upload speeds operating on 4G/2G networks.
The testing was conducted under the supervision of TRAI Regional Office Kolkata using multiple advanced test handsets establishing live data and voice sessions across 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G networks. 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.