Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel emerged as the strongest-performing mobile network operators in Odisha’s Ganjam, Gajapati and Rayagada districts, according to the latest Independent Drive Test (IDT) conducted by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in April 2026. The assessment measured network coverage, voice quality, call reliability and mobile data performance across key urban centres and hotspot locations.
TRAI’s appointed agency conducted drive tests covering 446 km of city roads and 8 hotspot locations between April 23 and April 25, 2026 across the three districts. The survey included towns such as Brahmapur, Gopalpur, Chatrapur, Paralakhemundi, Kashinagar, Gunupur, Padmapur and Rayagada.
Jio Records the Best Overall Coverage
Jio delivered the strongest overall network coverage with 4,976 poor signal samples out of 44,323, outperforming Vodafone Idea (Vi), which recorded 3,910 out of 17,533, Bharti Airtel with 5,648 out of 37,277, and BSNL with 14,768 out of 35,428.
For no-coverage instances, Jio again led with only 975 limited-service samples out of 44,323, significantly better than BSNL’s 4,807 out of 35,428, Airtel’s 6,939 out of 37,277, and Vi’s 13,448 out of 17,533, indicating the widest network availability across the tested locations.
Vi Achieves Zero Dropped Calls
Vodafone Idea delivered the most reliable voice calling experience, recording zero dropped calls out of 156 successfully established calls. Jio followed with 7 dropped calls out of 406, Airtel reported 10 out of 325, while BSNL recorded the highest at 33 dropped calls out of 308.
For call silence instances lasting more than three seconds, Jio and BSNL each registered 14 occurrences, Airtel recorded 23, and Vi reported 17.
Jio Leads Mobile Download Speeds
Jio dominated mobile internet performance with an average download speed of 186.07 Mbps, comfortably ahead of Airtel’s 81.74 Mbps. Vodafone Idea achieved 17.91 Mbps, while BSNL’s 3G network averaged 6.71 Mbps.
For upload performance, Airtel ranked first with an average 18.09 Mbps, ahead of Jio’s 13.46 Mbps, Vodafone Idea’s 9.63 Mbps, and BSNL’s 3.54 Mbps.
Testing Covered Major Cities and Public Hotspots
The TRAI drive test covered important locations across Ganjam, Gajapati, and Rayagada districts, including Brahmapur, Gopalpur, Paralakhemundi, Gunupur, Kashinagar, Padmapur, and Rayagada. Hotspot testing was carried out at Ganjam Railway Station, Gopalpur Beach, Gunupur Bus Stand, Market Street Paralakhemundi, Mohana Market, Paralakhemundi Bus Stand, R. Udayagiri Market, and Rayagada Market.
The latest TRAI findings show that Reliance Jio delivered the best combination of network coverage and the fastest mobile download speeds across the three Odisha districts, while Airtel offered the highest upload speeds. Vodafone Idea distinguished itself with zero dropped calls, whereas BSNL continued to lag behind private operators in coverage, voice reliability and mobile data performance.
SHAFANA FAZAL
