TRAI conducts Independent Drive Tests in New Delhi, Jaipur, Hyderabad, and Ahmednagar through its vendors to assess the quality of voice and data services provided by cellular mobile telephone service providers. The participants include Reliance Jio, Bharti Airtel, BSNL and Vodafone-Idea. The key indicators include Call setup, Drop Rate, Speech Quality, Coverage in voice connectivity and Data Throughput, Latency and Jitter in Data connectivity. 

The tests were conducted in and outside Metro, transportation services, or highways based on availability while maintaining a balance between metro and non-metro coverage. 

Delhi 

In Delhi, tests were conducted along 635 km in the city and 210 Kms in the metro to assess the quality of network connectivity. Regarding Voice calls RJIL has the lowest call setup success rate of 94.00%, whereas Airtel, MTNL, and VIL have 99.25%, 97.49%, and 99.25% call setup success rates respectively. 

In Data Download performance, Airtel and RJIL have average download speeds of 171.44 Mbps and 231.82 Mbps, respectively. VI and BSNL, being on 3G and 4G as the top technology, exhibit lower download speeds. 

Jaipur 

In Jaipur, tests were conducted along 508 Kms in the city  & 12 Kms in the metro for assessment purposes. In Voice calls, RJIL and VIL have a call setup success rate of 100.00%, whereas Airtel and BSNL have a 99.90% and 98.92% call setup success rate respectively.  

In Data Download performance, Airtel and RJIL have average download speeds of 216.93 Mbps and 356.68 Mbps respectively. BSNL and VIL being on 3G & 4G as top technology respectively, have download speeds of 3.12 Mbps & 32.40 Mbps respectively. 

Also read: Sanchar Sathi, DoTs Citizen Service Portal, records 9 Crore visitors till December 2024

Hyderabad 

In Jaipur, tests were conducted along 295 Kms in the city & 56 Kms in the metro for assessment purposes. In Voice calls, RJIL has a call setup success rate (100.00%), whereas Airtel and BSNL have 99.85% and VIL has a 98.92% call setup success rate respectively. 

In Data Download performance, Airtel and RJIL have average download speeds of 119.88 Mbps and 164.19 Mbps respectively. The BSNL and VIL 20.85 Mbps being on 3G & 4G as top technology have download speeds of 1.28 Mbps and 20.85 Mbps respectively. 

Ahmednagar City 

In Ahmednagar city, tests were conducted along 230 Kms in the city and 265 kms on the highway for assessment purposes. In Voice calls, Airtel has a call setup success rate of 100.00%, whereas RJIL has 99.70%. BSNL and VIL have 94.41% & 88.24% call setup success rates respectively.

In Data Download performance, Airtel and RJIL have average download speeds of 135.59 Mbps and 251.13 Mbps respectively. BSNL and VI being on 4G as top technology have a download speed of 2.08 mbps and 44.20 mbps respectively.

So, if you are planning to buy yourself a new SIM card, choose wisely.

To read more on Telecom, visit our category page.