Reliance Jio has emerged as the best-performing mobile operator in the latest drive test conducted by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) across Barmer, Balotra, Pachpadra city and adjoining areas in Rajasthan, demonstrating the strongest network coverage, fastest download speeds, and one of the lowest dropped call rates.
TRAI carried out the drive test through its agency across a 350.3 km city drive route and 7 hotspot locations covering Barmer, Balotra, Pachpadra and surrounding areas between June 1-2 and June 4, 2026 in Rajasthan. The drive test covered key locations including Gadra Road, Gagriya, Ramsar, Bhachbhar, Barmer, Uttarlai, Kawas, Lapla, Baytu, Gol Station, Tilwara, Balotra, Jerla, and Pachpadra.
Reliance Jio recorded the strongest network coverage during voice testing, reporting only 355 poor signal samples out of 28,540, the lowest among all operators. Airtel also delivered excellent coverage with 874 poor signal samples out of 28,421. Vodafone Idea recorded 4,378 poor signal samples out of 27,385, while BSNL registered the highest coverage gaps with 6,332 poor signal samples out of 21,622.
Voice call reliability was also led by Airtel and Reliance Jio. Airtel completed the test without a single dropped call, recording 0 dropped calls out of 255 successfully established calls. Reliance Jio reported only 2 dropped calls out of 260 established calls. Vodafone Idea recorded 7 dropped calls out of 251 calls, while BSNL experienced 8 dropped calls out of 183 calls.
In terms of call quality, Airtel again led the rankings by reporting zero call silence instances exceeding three seconds across 249 established calls. Reliance Jio registered only 3 silence instances out of 250 calls. BSNL recorded 24 silence instances out of 143 calls, while Vodafone Idea reported 30 silence instances out of 236 calls, indicating comparatively weaker voice quality.
The biggest performance gap appeared in mobile data speeds. Reliance Jio delivered the fastest average download throughput at 228.12 Mbps across its 5G/4G network. Airtel followed with 145.06 Mbps on 5G/4G, significantly ahead of Vodafone Idea’s 22.40 Mbps on 5G/4G/2G and BSNL’s 8.11 Mbps on 4G/3G/2G.
For upload performance, Airtel narrowly led the market with an average upload speed of 24.57 Mbps on its 5G/4G network. Reliance Jio closely followed at 22.28 Mbps, while Vodafone Idea achieved 10.99 Mbps and BSNL recorded 3.60 Mbps.
Overall, the TRAI drive test indicates that Reliance Jio currently offers the strongest overall mobile network experience in Barmer, Balotra and Pachpadra, combining industry-leading download speeds, excellent coverage and reliable voice performance. Airtel remained highly competitive, matching or outperforming rivals in dropped calls, upload speeds and voice quality, while BSNL and Vodafone Idea lagged behind across several key performance indicators.
SHAFANA FAZAL
