Ministry of Communications
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TRAI assesses Mobile Network quality across New Delhi and Central Delhi route under Delhi LSA during August, 2026

Posted On: 12 OCT 2026 3:48PM by PIB Delhi

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released findings of Independent Drive Test (IDT) conducted across New Delhi and Central Delhi route under Delhi LSA, during the month of Aug 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 analyzed in real-time using advanced Software Systems.

TRAI, through its appointed agency, conducted drive tests across City drive – 322.9 Km, Hotspot locations - 11, Walk Test - 2.2 Km and Inter Operator Calling at 01 location during 10th Aug 2026 to 14th Aug 2026 in Delhi LSA. These tests were conducted under the supervision of the TRAI Regional Office Delhi. 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 routes: The map provides overview of drive test routes indicating city drive, Inter-operator call test, hotspots and walk test as per the legends shown on the map.

Figure-1: Drive test routes

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).
    1. Voice Services: Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR), Drop Call Rate (DCR), Call Setup Time, Call Silence Rate, Speech Quality (MOS).
    1. Call Silence Instance: Number of call silence instances occurred during the calls.
    1. Data Services: Download/Upload Throughput, Latency, Jitter, Packet Drop Rate.

The overall mobile network performance in New Delhi and Central Delhi route for the key parameters has been summarized below: -

  1. Coverage Gap - The signal strength observed during voice testing on the 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 1594/97412 for Airtel, 59106/91219 for MTNL, 1610/95084 for RJIL and 983/97747 for VIL. Details of the coverage gaps have been provided in the map of Annexure.
  2. Dropped Calls - Dropped calls in auto-selection mode (5G/ 4G/ 3G/ 2G), measured as the number of dropped calls out of the number of successfully established calls, were 0/868 for Airtel, 123/794 for MTNL, 2/872 for RJIL and 1/877 for VIL. Details of the dropped call locations have been provided in the map of Annexure.
  1. Call Silence Instance - Call silence instances in Auto-selection mode (5G/4G), measured as the total number of silence instances observed for > 3 seconds out of the total calls established, were 3/844 for Airtel, 46/835 for RJIL and 11/845 for VIL. Details of the call silence instance locations have been provided in the map of Annexure.
  2. d) Data Download and Upload Throughput:
      1. Data Download performance (Overall): Average download speed was observed as 156.52 Mbps for Airtel (5G), 4.34 Mbps for MTNL (3G),

       287.91 Mbps for RJIL (5G) and 39.57 Mbps for VIL (5G). Detail of Download throughput has been provided in the map of Annexure.

      1. Data Upload performance (Overall): Average upload speed was observed as 23.94 Mbps for Airtel (5G), 1.17 Mbps for MTNL (3G), 23.31 Mbps for RJIL (5G) and 25.41 Mbps for VIL (5G). Details of Upload throughput have been provided in the map of Annexure.

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

Details of drive test route and area covered during the IDT are as below: -

  1. City - The areas covered in the city drive are Rose Garden, Sarai Kale Khan, IP Estate, Rajghat, Civil Lines, Kashmere Gate, Daryaganj, Supreme Court, JLN Stadium, Jangpura, Lajpat Nagar, Okhla NSIC, Hauz Khas, Green Park, Jor Bagh, Khan Market, India Gate, Janpath, New Delhi, Tis Hazari, Sarai       Rohilla, Anand Parbat, Moti Nagar, Rajinder Nagar, Chanakyapuri, Moti Bagh and Sarojini Nagar etc. under New Delhi and Central Delhi.
  2. Hotspot - The hotspot locations, capturing stationary user experience are Agrasen Ki Baoli, GB Pant Hospital, Hanuman Mandir Connaught Place, Khan Market, LNJP Hospital Lok Kalyan Marg, Maulana Azad Medical College (MAMC) – Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, Old Delhi Railway Station, Patiala House Court, Red Fort, Sadar Bazar & The British School Chanakyapuri.
  3. Walk Test - The walk test conducted on 14th Aug 2026, covered Bhagirath Palace Electronic Market capturing mobile network behaviours in crowded pedestrian environments.

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.ca@trai.gov.in or Regional Office of TRAI at Delhi RO can be contacted on telephone No.+91-11-20907772.

Click here to see Annexure

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AMK/ ARJ


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