The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released findings of Independent Drive Test (IDT) conducted across Railway route between New Tinsukia Railway station and Guwahati Railway station in the state of Assam under Assam 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.

This IDT has 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 Railway – 515.9 KMs, Hotspot locations - 2, in Assam state on 11^th September 2026 in Assam 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 Railway, Hotspots 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.
3. Data Services: Download/ Upload Throughput, Latency, Jitter, Packet Drop Rate

The overall mobile network performance along the Railway route from New Tinsukia to Guwahati under Assam LSA for the key parameters has been summarised below: -

a)    Coverage Gap - The signal strength observed during voice testing on the Railway 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 4754 / 32385 for Airtel, 12486 /25698 for BSNL, 4808/ 33296 for RJIL and 12738 / 27285 for VIL. Details of the coverage gaps have been provided in the map Annexed.

b)    Dropped Calls - Dropped calls, measured as the number of dropped calls out of the number of successfully established calls, were 5/ 166 for Airtel, 65/ 205 for BSNL, 9/ 175 for RJIL and 34/ 164 for VIL. Details of the dropped call locations have been provided in the map Annexed.

c)    Data Download and Upload Throughput:

i)  Data Download performance (Overall): Average download speed was observed as 42.71 Mbps for Airtel (5G/4G), 5.00 Mbps for BSNL (4G/2G), 110.82 Mbps for RJIL (5G/4G) and 15.69 Mbps for VIL (4G/2G). Detail of Download throughput has been provided in the map Annexed.

ii) Data Upload performance (Overall): Average upload speed was observed as 11.75 Mbps for Airtel (5G/4G), 3.25 Mbps for BSNL (4G/ 2G), 8.29 Mbps for RJIL (5G/4G) and 5.46 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)    Railway - The areas covered in the Railway drive are (i) New Tinsukia to Guwahati passing through Simaluguri Junction, (ii) Mariani Junction, (iii) Furkating Junction, (iv) Dimapur, (v) Diphu, (vi) Lumding Junction

b)   Hotspot - The hot spot locations, capturing stationary user experience, are (i) Guwahati Railway Station, (ii) New Tinsukia Railway Station.       

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/ARJ

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