Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel delivered the strongest mobile network performance in the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s (TRAI) drive test conducted along the River Ganga from Kolkata to Kachubaria-Gangasagar in West Bengal.
Jio recorded the fastest mobile data speeds, while Airtel achieved the best network coverage, upload performance and voice call reliability. BSNL continued to trail competitors across most network quality parameters.
TRAI conducted the Independent Drive Test on June 6, 2026, covering 124.4 km of the coastal route along the River Ganga under the West Bengal Licensed Service Area (LSA). The assessment also included 2 hotspot locations to evaluate stationary user experience.
The drive test measured the performance of Airtel, BSNL, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi) across key mobile network quality indicators, including coverage, dropped calls, download speed and upload speed.
Reliance Jio delivered the highest average download speed of 86.53 Mbps, outperforming Airtel at 55.93 Mbps, Vodafone Idea at 24.23 Mbps, and BSNL at 5.95 Mbps. Airtel led upload performance with an average speed of 5.54 Mbps, followed by Reliance Jio at 4.95 Mbps, Vodafone Idea at 3.43 Mbps, and BSNL at 1.65 Mbps.
Airtel also recorded the strongest network coverage, registering only 1,051 poor signal samples out of 18,186 collected during the coastal drive. Reliance Jio followed closely with 1,474 poor signal samples out of 18,149, while Vodafone Idea reported 1,819 poor signal samples out of 18,122. BSNL showed the weakest coverage performance with 10,326 poor signal samples out of 16,338, indicating substantial coverage gaps along the river route.
Voice call reliability was another area where Airtel performed exceptionally well. Airtel recorded just 1 dropped call out of 129 successfully established calls, the best among all operators. Reliance Jio followed with 2 dropped calls out of 130, while Vodafone Idea reported 9 dropped calls out of 133. BSNL recorded the poorest voice performance with 24 dropped calls out of 124 established calls.
The coastal drive covered important locations between Kolkata and Kachubaria-Gangasagar, including Pujali, Belari, Geonkhali, Diamond Harbour and Ghoramara. TRAI also evaluated mobile network performance at Outram Ghat, Kolkata, and LCT Jetty, Kachubaria, two key hotspot locations that experience significant passenger traffic.
The latest TRAI Independent Drive Test highlights Reliance Jio’s leadership in mobile broadband download speeds along the Kolkata-Gangasagar coastal corridor, while Airtel emerged as the top performer in network coverage, upload throughput and voice call reliability. Vodafone Idea delivered moderate overall performance, whereas BSNL continued to face significant challenges in coverage, data speeds and dropped call performance across the river route.
SHAFANA FAZAL