Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has released the findings of its Drive Tests conducted across Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar cities and nearby areas in the UP West during January 2026. The assessment was designed to capture real-world mobile network performance across urban zones, hotspots and public transport hubs.
TRAI, through its appointed agency, conducted detailed drive tests covering 338.4 km of city routes and 3.8 km of walk tests between January 20 and January 23, 2026.
Voice Performance: Airtel and Reliance Jio Deliver High Call Success Rates
In auto-selection mode (5G 4G 3G 2G), voice service performance showed the following results:
Call Setup Success Rate
Airtel: 99.71 percent
BSNL: 80.56 percent
Reliance Jio: 99.85 percent
Vodafone Idea: 89.06 percent
Drop Call Rate
Airtel: 0.00 percent
BSNL: 1.21 percent
Reliance Jio: 0.59 percent
Vodafone Idea: 0.47 percent
Call Setup Time
Airtel: 1.24 seconds
BSNL: 2.93 seconds
Reliance Jio: 0.68 seconds
Vodafone Idea: 0.75 seconds
Call Silence or Mute Rate on packet switched network (4G 5G)
Airtel: 2.67 percent
BSNL: 2.56 percent
Reliance Jio: 0.19 percent
Vodafone Idea: 0.98 percent
Mean Opinion Score (MOS)
Airtel: 3.98
BSNL: 3.04
Reliance Jio: 4.43
Vodafone Idea: 4.43
The results indicate strong voice quality from Airtel and Reliance Jio, while BSNL recorded comparatively lower call setup success rates in the city drive tests.
Signal Strength Observations
During voice testing in auto-selection mode, poor signal strength was observed along the city route as follows:
Airtel: 0.42 percent
BSNL: 17.51 percent
Reliance Jio: 0.32 percent
Vodafone Idea: 0.68 percent
During data testing, poor signal strength was recorded for:
Airtel: 4.50 percent
BSNL: 29.08 percent
Reliance Jio: 2.97 percent
Vodafone Idea: 2.76 percent
These findings highlight stronger coverage consistency from Airtel and Reliance Jio across urban routes.
Data Download and Upload Performance
Overall Average Download Speed
Airtel (5G 4G): 166.45 Mbps
BSNL (4G 3G 2G): 9.29 Mbps
Reliance Jio (5G 4G): 227.69 Mbps
Vodafone Idea (4G 2G): 46.50 Mbps
Overall Average Upload Speed
Airtel (5G 4G): 29.34 Mbps
BSNL (4G 3G 2G): 3.02 Mbps
Reliance Jio (5G 4G): 29.16 Mbps
Vodafone Idea (4G 2G): 15.33 Mbps
Reliance Jio delivered the highest average download speed at 227.69 Mbps, while Airtel and Reliance Jio showed comparable upload performance.
Latency Performance
The 50th percentile latency recorded during the drive test was:
Airtel: 15.24 ms
BSNL: 28.73 ms
Reliance Jio: 22.40 ms
Vodafone Idea: 31.66 ms
Lower latency observed in Airtel and Reliance Jio networks supports better responsiveness for streaming, gaming and enterprise applications.
Hotspot Performance in Urban Areas
Data performance at hotspot locations recorded the following download speeds:
Airtel
4G download: 14.75 Mbps
5G download: 162.26 Mbps
BSNL
4G download: 8.97 Mbps
Reliance Jio
4G download: 38.36 Mbps
5G download: 261.51 Mbps
Vodafone Idea
4G download: 38.71 Mbps
Upload speeds at hotspots were:
Airtel: 4G 12.30 Mbps, 5G 43.49 Mbps
BSNL: 4G 5.83 Mbps
Reliance Jio: 4G 9.98 Mbps, 5G 26.77 Mbps
Vodafone Idea: 4G 14.60 Mbps
Reliance Jio recorded the highest 5G hotspot download speed at 261.51 Mbps, reinforcing its leadership in 5G data performance in Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar.
Strengthening Network Quality in UP West
The Drive Test findings underline continued progress in 5G deployment and network optimization in Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar. While Airtel and Reliance Jio demonstrated strong voice reliability and high-speed data performance, the results indicate scope for improvement in coverage consistency and performance by other operators in certain areas.
FASNA SHABEER
