The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released findings of Independent Drive Test (IDT) conducted across parts of Lohit district and from Silluk-Tin-Ali to Tohangam along National Highway (NH)-13 under North-East LSA, during the month of September 2026, for information of general telecom consumers. The purpose of this drive test is to assess and verify real time quality of mobile network services (both voice & data) provided by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs). During the IDT, TRAI captures performance of TSPs for key Quality of Service (QoS) parameters like Coverage, Call Drop Rate (CDR), Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR), data Download (DL) and Upload (UL) throughput etc., which are then published to inform Consumers and encourage TSPs to improve their services.

These IDTs have been designed to capture on ground mobile network performance of all TSPs across diverse usages environment like cities, hotspots, public transport hubs, etc. In this type of drive testing, live data and voice sessions are established using SIM cards from all TSPs over 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G networks. Multiple advanced test handsets are used, and the sessions are monitored and analysed in real-time using advanced Software Systems.

TRAI, through its appointed agency, conducted drive tests across City drive – 247.3 KMs, Hotspot locations - 13, Walk Test – 1.2 KMs, Highway- 154.8 KMs in Arunachal Pradesh state during 7^th September 2026 to 10^th September 2026 in North-East LSA. These tests were conducted under the supervision of the TRAI Regional Office Kolkata. The observations presented in drive test reports represent the performance of the TSPs on the area/ route under test on the day/ time of conducting the drive test.

Drive Test Route Map: The following map provides overview of drive test routes indicating City drive, Inter-operator calling, Hotspots and Walk tests, Highway as per the legends shown on the map: -

Key Parameters Assessed

1. Coverage Gap: Percentage of samples, for which signal strength observed less than the minimum prescribed signal strength for respective technology (2G/ 3G/ 4G/ 5G).
2. Voice Services: Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR), Drop Call Rate (DCR), Call Setup Time, Call Silence Rate, Speech Quality (MOS).
3. Call Silence Instance: Number of call silence instance occurred during the calls.
4. Data Services: Download/ Upload Throughput, Latency, Jitter, Packet Drop Rate           

The overall mobile network performance in parts of Lohit district and from Silluk-Tin-Ali to Tohangam along National Highway (NH)-13 under North-East LSA for the key parameters has been summarised below: -

a)    Coverage Gap (City) - The signal strength observed during voice testing on the city drive test route in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G), measured as the number of samples having poor signal strength out of the total samples collected, was 8393 / 37595 for Airtel, 13481 /31483 for BSNL, 10750 / 37912 for RJIL and 13557 / 22487 for VIL. Details of the coverage gaps have been provided in the map Annexed.

       Coverage Gap (Highway) - The signal strength observed during voice testing along the HW route in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G), measured as the number of samples having poor signal strength out of the total samples collected, was 3547 /11149 3 for Airtel, 5962 /9777 for BSNL, 6217 / 15123 for RJIL and 4965 / 6027 for VIL. Details of the coverage gaps have been provided in the map Annexed.

b)    Dropped Calls (City) - Dropped calls, measured as the number of dropped calls out of the number of successfully established calls, were 12/ 271 for Airtel, 12/ 201 for BSNL, 1/ 270 for RJIL and 17/ 157 for VIL. Details of the dropped call locations have been provided in the map Annexed.

       Dropped Calls (Highway)- Dropped calls, measured as the number of dropped calls out of the number of successfully established calls, were 12/ 62 for Airtel, 15/ 50 for BSNL, 7/ 81 for RJIL and 8/ 32 for VIL. Details of the dropped call locations have been provided in the map Annexed.

c)    Call Silence Instance (City) - Call silence instances, measured as the total number of silence instances observed for > 3 seconds out of the total calls established, were 8/ 245 for Airtel, 6/ 159 for BSNL, 40/ 237 for RJIL and 2/ 98 for VIL. Details of the call silence instance locations have been provided in the map Annexed.

       Call Silence Instance (Highway) - Call silence instances, measured as the total number of silence instances observed for > 3 seconds out of the total calls established, were 4/ 58 for Airtel, 1/ 31 for BSNL, 14/ 43 for RJIL and 0/ 8 for VIL. Details of the call silence instance locations have been provided in the map Annexed.

d)    Data Download and Upload Throughput:

1. Data Download performance Overall (City) : Average download speed was observed as 61.75 Mbps for Airtel (5G/4G), 2.27 Mbps for BSNL (4G/2G), 103.49 Mbps for RJIL (5G/4G) and 18.20 Mbps for VIL (4G/2G). Detail of Download throughput has been provided in the map Annexed.

Data Download performance Overall (Highway): Average download speed was observed as 61.33 Mbps for Airtel (5G/4G), 2.34 Mbps for BSNL (4G/2G), 85.84 Mbps for RJIL (5G/4G) and 32.99 Mbps for VIL (4G/2G). Detail of Download throughput has been provided in the map Annexed.

2. Data Upload performance Overall (City): Average upload speed was observed as 12.40 Mbps for Airtel (5G/4G), 3.06 Mbps for BSNL (4G/ 2G), 7.08 Mbps for RJIL (5G/4G) and 4.84 Mbps for VIL (4G/2G). Detail of Upload throughput has been provided in the map Annexed.

Data Upload performance Overall (Highway): Average upload speed was observed as 11.65 Mbps for Airtel (5G/4G), 2.29 Mbps for BSNL (4G/ 2G), 5.02 Mbps for RJIL (5G/4G) and 7.05 Mbps for VIL (4G/2G). Detail of Upload throughput has been provided in the map Annexed.

Locations of Dropped Calls and Call Silence instances can be seen by clicking red dot on the map Annexed.

Details of drive test route and area covered during the IDT is as under: -

a)      City - The areas covered in the city drive are (i) Sunpura, (ii) New Hati Duba, (iii) Chongkham,(iv)  Kherem,  (v) Medo, (vi) Lamliang, (vii) Brahmakund, (viii)  Hawa Camp,  (ix) Demwe, (x) Telluliang New, (xi) Loiliang, (xii) Lohitpur, (xiii) 43rd Mile, (xiv) Tezu Gam

2.    Hotspot - The hot spot locations, capturing stationary user experience, are (i) ADC Office Dambuk -Dambuk Aga -Dambuk , (ii) Dambuk G.H.S.S -Dambuk, (iii) Dambuk PHC -Dambuk, (iv) Deputy Commissioner Office -Tezu, (v) District And Sessions Court –Tezu, (vi) District Museum and Community Convention Centre - Jubilee Marg -Tezu, (vii) Govt. Higher Secondary School, NH13 -Tezu, (viii) Indira Gandhi Government College- Gas Agency Road -Tezu, (ix) Parsuram Kund, (x) Police Station Wakro, (xi) Polytechnic College –Roing, (xii) Sunpura Administrative/Panchayat Area –Jeko, (xiii) Tezu Main Bazaar / Clock Tower.

3.   Walk Test - The walk tests conducted during 10^th September 2026, are (i) Denning College for Teacher Education - Tezu, (ii) Zonal General Hospital - Tezu.

d)  Highway – (i) Silluk-Tin-Ali to Tohangam along NH-13 Via Silluk , (ii) Dambuk, (iii) Bomjir , (iv) Roing, (v) Abali, (vi) Abongo, (vii) Koronu, (vii) Bhismaknagar, (viii) Danglt, (ix) Telluliang New, (x) Demwe .

The findings of this IDT report have been shared with respective TSPs for taking further necessary action at their end. Detailed reports of IDT are made available on the TRAI website at www.trai.gov.in. For any clarification or additional information, an email can be sent to adv.kolkata@trai.gov.in or Regional Office of TRAI at Kolkata RO can be contacted on telephone no.  +91-33-22361401.

Click here to see Annexure

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PSF/AR

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