Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the results of its drive test conducted across Uttara Kannada district in Karnataka during May 18-21, 2026, comparing the network performance of Airtel, BSNL, Reliance Jio (RJIL), and Vodafone Idea (VIL). The assessment covered 440.5 km of city routes, 761 km of railway routes, 12 hotspot locations, and 8.7 km of walk tests across Karwar and nearby areas, evaluating voice quality, network coverage, and mobile broadband performance.
Reliance Jio emerged as the best-performing operator for mobile data downloads, recording an average download speed of 229.12 Mbps. Airtel followed with 109.02 Mbps, while Vodafone Idea delivered 25.04 Mbps and BSNL recorded 5.73 Mbps. Airtel led upload performance with an average speed of 26.02 Mbps, ahead of Reliance Jio’s 18.19 Mbps, Vodafone Idea’s 10.78 Mbps, and BSNL’s 2.07 Mbps.
Coverage testing showed Airtel providing the strongest overall network coverage. During voice testing in auto-selection mode across 5G, 4G, 3G, and 2G networks, Airtel recorded 5,104 poor signal samples out of 34,323 collected samples, the lowest among all operators. Vodafone Idea reported 6,626 poor signal samples out of 28,580, Reliance Jio recorded 7,089 out of 37,941, while BSNL had the highest coverage gap with 10,378 poor signal samples out of 35,480.
Voice call reliability was closely contested. Vodafone Idea delivered the best dropped call performance with 12 dropped calls out of 260 successfully established calls. Airtel reported 14 dropped calls out of 311 established calls, Reliance Jio recorded 17 dropped calls out of 346 calls, while BSNL registered the highest dropped call count with 28 out of 306 successfully established calls.
Call silence measurements showed Vodafone Idea and BSNL jointly recording the fewest silence instances with eight each. Vodafone Idea logged eight silence instances out of 230 established calls, while BSNL recorded eight out of 274 calls. Reliance Jio reported 12 silence instances out of 331 calls, and Airtel recorded 17 silence instances out of 304 calls.
The TRAI drive test covered key locations across Uttara Kannada, including Shirwada, Kodibag, Hattikeri, Ankola, Mirjan, Bhatkal, Anantwadi, Kasarkoda, Kumta, Devimane, Sirsi, Manchikere, Yellapur, Bhagavati, Ambikanagar, Dandeli, Bapeli, Ganeshgudi and Haliyal. The railway route extended from Bengaluru to Karwar via Hassan, Mangaluru, Udupi, Murdeshwar and Ankola. Hotspot testing covered Ankola Bus Stand, Bhatkal Bus Stand, Dandeli Bus Stand, District Hospital Karwar, Government Hospital Dandeli, Government Hospital Haliyal, Haliyal Bus Stand, Honnavar Bus Stand, Karwar Bus Stand, Kumta Bus Stand, Sirsi Bus Stand and Yellapura Bus Stand. Walk tests were conducted at Bhatkal Old Town Walkway, Karwar Beach Promenade Stretch, Kumta Town Bazaar Walk, Murdeshwar Beach and Temple Walkway, and Sirsi Sri Marikamba Temple.
Overall, TRAI’s May 2026 Independent Drive Test indicates that Reliance Jio delivered the fastest mobile broadband performance in Uttara Kannada with industry-leading download speeds, Airtel offered the strongest upload speeds and the lowest coverage gaps, Vodafone Idea achieved the best dropped call performance and among the lowest call silence instances, while BSNL continued to trail private operators in coverage, voice quality and mobile data performance.
SHAFANA FAZAL
