Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the results of its drive test conducted across North Delhi and nearby areas during April 13–17, 2026, evaluating the mobile network performance of Airtel, Reliance Jio (RJIL), Vodafone Idea (Vi), and MTNL. The assessment covered 374.2 km of city routes, 57.8 km of airport routes, 13 hotspot locations, and 7 km of walk tests across key parts of Delhi.
Reliance Jio Delivers Fastest 5G Data Speeds
Reliance Jio emerged as the fastest mobile operator in the city drive tests, recording download speed of 248.72 Mbps and an upload speed of 25.67 Mbps on its 5G network.
Airtel followed with download speed of 178.70 Mbps, while delivering the highest upload speed of 27.18 Mbps. Vodafone Idea posted 23.80 Mbps download and 12.33 Mbps upload speeds on its 5G network.
MTNL remained significantly behind private operators, recording only 4.25 Mbps download and 1.39 Mbps upload speeds on its 3G network.
Vodafone Idea Records Best Voice Reliability
Vodafone Idea delivered the strongest voice performance in North Delhi, recording zero dropped calls out of 459 successfully established calls, making it the only operator without a dropped call during the city drive tests.
Airtel recorded 3 dropped calls out of 452 calls, while Reliance Jio reported 4 dropped calls out of 459 calls, both demonstrating excellent call reliability.
MTNL experienced the weakest voice performance, with 48 dropped calls out of 362 established calls.
Vi Leads Network Coverage, Jio and Airtel Close Behind
TRAI measured coverage quality based on poor signal strength samples collected during voice testing.
Vodafone Idea recorded the fewest coverage gaps, with only 507 poor signal samples out of 51,031, making it the best performer for network coverage.
Reliance Jio followed closely with 709 poor signal samples out of 49,966, while Airtel recorded 719 poor signal samples out of 50,951.
MTNL lagged significantly behind with 31,918 poor signal samples out of 44,486, reflecting major coverage deficiencies.
Jio and Airtel Deliver Better Voice Quality
For call silence instances lasting more than three seconds, Reliance Jio performed best with 10 silence instances out of 435 calls.
Airtel recorded 14 silence instances out of 435 calls, while Vodafone Idea reported 24 silence instances out of 449 calls.
MTNL’s call silence results were not reported in the TRAI findings.
Airport Route: Jio Dominates Coverage and Download Speed
TRAI also evaluated operator performance on the 57.8 km Noida Sector 121 to IGI Airport route.
Reliance Jio delivered the strongest network coverage, recording only 11 poor signal samples out of 7,258, ahead of Airtel with 30 out of 7,324 and Vodafone Idea with 42 out of 7,316. MTNL reported 5,262 poor signal samples out of 7,260, the weakest result.
Jio Records Zero Dropped Calls on Airport Route
Reliance Jio achieved zero dropped calls out of 66 established calls, while Airtel and Vodafone Idea each recorded 1 dropped call out of 66 calls.
MTNL experienced 19 dropped calls out of 70 established calls, highlighting persistent reliability issues.
For call silence, both Airtel and Reliance Jio reported zero silence instances during airport testing, while Vodafone Idea recorded 5 silence instances out of 62 calls.
Jio Leads Airport Download Speed, Airtel Tops Upload Performance
Reliance Jio again delivered the fastest airport data performance with an average download speed of 222.34 Mbps.
Airtel followed with 132.26 Mbps, while Vodafone Idea achieved 35.28 Mbps. MTNL recorded only 4.28 Mbps.
For uploads, Airtel ranked first with an average 28.36 Mbps, followed by Vodafone Idea at 25.18 Mbps, Reliance Jio at 23.55 Mbps, and MTNL at 1.14 Mbps.
Drive Test Covered Major North Delhi Locations
The city drive covered Jaunti, Kanjhawala, Bawana, Bakoli, Alipur, Rohini, Karala, Shastri Park, Burari, Shalimar Bagh, Mukherjee Nagar, Wazirabad, Ashok Nagar, Paschim Vihar, and Janakpuri.
The airport route extended from Noida Sector 121 to IGI Airport.
Hotspot testing included IGI Airport Terminals 1, 2 and 3, ISBT Kashmere Gate, Delhi Technological University, District Court Rohini, Fortis Hospital Shalimar Bagh, Rohini West Metro Station, Samaypur Badli Metro Station, Bal Bharti Public School Pitampura, Jaipur Golden Hospital Rohini, ISKCON Temple Rohini, Gurudwara Nanak Piao Sahib, and other high-traffic locations.
Walk tests were conducted at Azadpur Mandi and Delhi Sarai Rohilla Railway Station to assess mobile network performance in crowded pedestrian environments.
Overall, the TRAI assessment shows Reliance Jio leading in 5G download speeds and airport network performance, Airtel delivering competitive speeds with the highest upload throughput, Vodafone Idea excelling in voice reliability with zero dropped calls and the strongest city coverage, while MTNL continues to trail significantly in coverage, voice quality, and mobile broadband performance.
BABURAJAN KIZHAKEDATH
