Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has released the findings of its Drive Test conducted across city routes of Samastipur district in Bihar during January 2026. The drive tests were carried out under the supervision of the TRAI Regional Office, Kolkata, to assess real-world mobile network performance across institutional hotspots, secretariat areas, residential localities and commercial zones.
Between January 20 and January 23, 2026, TRAI teams covered 272.2 km of city drive tests, 10 hotspot locations and 1.9 km of walk tests across Samastipur district.
Extensive Coverage Across Urban and Institutional Areas
The assessment covered key areas including Musrigharari, Sarairanjan, Patori, Mohiuddinagar, Dalsinghsarai, Satanpur, Barbatta, Tajpur, Pusa, Saidpur, Kalyanpur, Basudeopur, Satmalpur, Khanpur, Ballipur, Singhia, Lagma, Deodha, Rosera, Belsandi Tara and Mohanpur.
Static testing was conducted at major public locations such as Dalsingh Sarai Railway Station, District Court Samastipur, Government Bus Stand Uttarayan Samastipur, Government Engineering College Samastipur, Govt ITI Mordewa, Head Post Office Sakra Bazar, Subdivisional Civil Court Dalsinghsarai, Sub Divisional Hospital Rosera, UR College Jarahi Khaira and V2 Mall Tajpur Road.
Walk tests were conducted at Dr Rajendra Prasad Central Agriculture University Pusa and Samastipur Junction Railway Station.
Voice Services: Airtel and Reliance Jio Maintain High Call Success Rates
In auto-selection mode (5G 4G 3G 2G), overall voice performance across the city routes was as follows:
Call Setup Success Rate
Airtel: 100.00 percent
BSNL: 36.89 percent
Reliance Jio: 99.76 percent
Vodafone Idea: 98.82 percent
Drop Call Rate
Airtel: 0.00 percent
BSNL: 10.04 percent
Reliance Jio: 0.24 percent
Vodafone Idea: 1.67 percent
Call Setup Time
Airtel: 1.70 seconds
BSNL: 4.77 seconds
Reliance Jio: 0.65 seconds
Vodafone Idea: 1.01 seconds
Call Silence or Mute Rate on packet switched network (5G 4G)
Airtel: 0.34 percent
BSNL: 1.89 percent
Reliance Jio: 0.00 percent
Vodafone Idea: 4.56 percent
Mean Opinion Score (MOS)
Airtel: 3.98
BSNL: 2.78
Reliance Jio: 4.52
Vodafone Idea: 4.58
The findings show strong voice performance from Airtel and Reliance Jio, while BSNL recorded significantly lower call setup success and higher drop call rates across the city routes.
Signal Strength Observations
Poor signal strength during voice testing in auto-selection mode was observed along the total IDT route as follows:
Airtel: 3.42 percent
BSNL: 51.32 percent
Reliance Jio: 2.20 percent
Vodafone Idea: 7.10 percent
During data testing, poor signal strength was recorded for:
Airtel: 16.52 percent
BSNL: 37.25 percent
Reliance Jio: 13.10 percent
Vodafone Idea: 11.92 percent
These figures highlight network coverage gaps, particularly for BSNL in several urban pockets.
Data Services: Reliance Jio Leads 5G Download Speeds
Overall Data Download Performance
Airtel (5G 4G 2G): 101.10 Mbps
BSNL (4G 3G 2G): 12.13 Mbps
Reliance Jio (5G 4G): 158.64 Mbps
Vodafone Idea (4G 2G): 27.24 Mbps
Overall Data Upload Performance
Airtel (5G 4G 2G): 21.39 Mbps
BSNL (4G 3G 2G): 4.18 Mbps
Reliance Jio (5G 4G): 18.55 Mbps
Vodafone Idea (4G 2G): 11.98 Mbps
Reliance Jio delivered the highest average download speed at 158.64 Mbps, while Airtel recorded the highest upload speed at 21.39 Mbps during the city drive test.
Latency Performance
The 50th percentile latency recorded during the tests was:
Airtel: 59.13 ms
BSNL: 52.56 ms
Reliance Jio: 32.38 ms
Vodafone Idea: 43.24 ms
Lower latency in the Reliance Jio network indicates better responsiveness for streaming, video calls and digital services.
Hotspot Data Performance
At hotspot locations, the following data speeds were recorded:
Airtel
4G download: 45.48 Mbps, upload: 9.88 Mbps
5G download: 111.62 Mbps, upload: 28.97 Mbps
BSNL
4G download: 7.78 Mbps, upload: 7.32 Mbps
Reliance Jio
4G download: 42.42 Mbps, upload: 7.77 Mbps
5G download: 131.06 Mbps, upload: 16.51 Mbps
Vodafone Idea
4G download: 21.01 Mbps, upload: 11.03 Mbps
The hotspot results further reinforce Reliance Jio’s leadership in 5G data performance across Samastipur district.
Strengthening Mobile Network Quality in Bihar
The Independent Drive Test across Samastipur highlights progress in 5G rollout and network optimization in Bihar LSA, particularly by Reliance Jio and Airtel. However, the findings also indicate the need for improved coverage consistency and call reliability by certain operators in parts of the district.
FASNA SHABEER