Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the results of its drive test in the city of Puducherry and surrounding regions as part of Tamil Nadu license area.
TRAI teams carried out drive tests from February 5 to February 7, 2026, covering 313.2 km across Puducherry city along with eight hotspot locations. The study evaluated services across 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G technologies to reflect user experience across different handset capabilities.
Voice Services Performance
The drive test measured several voice quality indicators including Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR), call setup time, drop call rate, speech quality, and signal coverage.
Call Setup Success Rate
Bharti Airtel: 100 percent
BSNL: 90.91 percent
Reliance Jio: 98.84 percent
Vodafone Idea: 99.61 percent
Call Setup Time
Bharti Airtel: 1.15 seconds
BSNL: 4.50 seconds
Reliance Jio: 0.71 seconds
Vodafone Idea: 1.86 seconds
Drop Call Rate
Bharti Airtel: 0.00 percent
BSNL: 1.46 percent
Reliance Jio: 0.39 percent
Vodafone Idea: 0.00 percent
Call Silence Rate (Packet Switched Network)
Bharti Airtel: 0.24 percent
BSNL: 4.16 percent
Reliance Jio: 0.96 percent
Vodafone Idea: 0.23 percent
Speech Quality (Mean Opinion Score)
Bharti Airtel: 4.00
BSNL: 3.01
Reliance Jio: 4.45
Vodafone Idea: 4.42
TRAI noted poor signal strength during voice testing across parts of the route, recorded at 1.17 percent for Bharti Airtel, 6.93 percent for BSNL, 2.42 percent for Reliance Jio, and 1.60 percent for Vodafone Idea.
Data Performance Results
The test also assessed mobile data performance through parameters such as download and upload speeds, latency, jitter, packet loss, and video streaming delay.
Average Download Speed
Bharti Airtel: 163.82 Mbps
BSNL: 12.71 Mbps
Reliance Jio: 253.84 Mbps
Vodafone Idea: 22.05 Mbps
Average Upload Speed
Bharti Airtel: 27.94 Mbps
BSNL: 5.11 Mbps
Reliance Jio: 16.92 Mbps
Vodafone Idea: 13.03 Mbps
Latency (50th percentile)
Bharti Airtel: 41.50 ms
BSNL: 42.47 ms
Reliance Jio: 25.94 ms
Vodafone Idea: 32.81 ms
Poor signal strength during data testing was observed along portions of the drive route, affecting 9.07 percent of the route for Bharti Airtel, 12.16 percent for BSNL, 15.35 percent for Reliance Jio, and 6.53 percent for Vodafone Idea.
Hotspot Data Performance
TRAI also conducted stationary tests at eight high traffic locations to assess user experience in crowded areas.
Bharti Airtel
4G: 33.84 Mbps download, 11.67 Mbps upload
5G: 230.03 Mbps download, 51.54 Mbps upload
BSNL
4G: 6.97 Mbps download, 6.90 Mbps upload
Reliance Jio
4G: 42.08 Mbps download, 7.98 Mbps upload
5G: 259.37 Mbps download, 13.03 Mbps upload
Vodafone Idea
4G: 17.76 Mbps download, 13.46 Mbps upload
Areas Covered in the Drive Test
The test covered several locations across Puducherry including Semmangalam, Sedarapet, Villianur, Lawspet, White Town, Muthialpet, Murungapakkam, Ariyankuppam, Thavalakuppam, Embalam, Bahour, Kanniakoil, Kalapet, Pillaichavady, and Bommayapalayam.
TRAI also evaluated network performance at major institutions and transport hubs such as Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Auroville International Society, Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Pondicherry University, Puducherry Airport, Puducherry Bus Station, Puducherry Railway Station, and Rajiv Gandhi Government Women and Children Hospital.
BABURAJAN KIZHAKEDATH
