The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the results of its Independent Drive Test (IDT) for the Tamil Nadu Licensed Service Area, highlighting real world mobile network performance across Trichy City in December 2025. The assessment offers a clear picture of how major telecom operators performed in voice and data services across urban, institutional, hotspot, and residential locations.
Scope and methodology of the TRAI drive test
The IDT was conducted under the supervision of the TRAI Regional Office, Hyderabad, from 09 December 2025 to 12 December 2025. The exercise covered 371.3 kilometers of drive testing across Trichy City, along with a 5.1 kilometer walk test and testing at seven key hotspot locations.
TRAI evaluated 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G networks to reflect actual user experience across different handset capabilities. The findings have been formally shared with all telecom service providers operating in the region.
Voice service performance highlights
Voice quality and reliability were assessed using parameters such as Call Setup Success Rate, drop call rate, call setup time, call silence rate, speech quality, and coverage.
In auto selection mode across 5G, 4G, 3G, and 2G networks, Airtel and Vodafone Idea achieved a call setup success rate of 100.00 percent. Reliance Jio recorded a strong 97.65 percent, while BSNL lagged with 90.51 percent.
Signal strength issues during voice testing were minimal for Airtel and Reliance Jio. Poor signal strength was observed at 0.39 percent for Airtel and 0.96 percent for Reliance Jio along the city drive test route. Vodafone Idea reported 2.99 percent, while BSNL faced the highest impact at 10.48 percent, indicating coverage challenges in several parts of the city.
Data service performance insights
TRAI also measured data performance through download and upload throughput, latency, jitter, packet drop rate, and video streaming delay.
During data testing in auto selection mode, poor signal strength was observed at 6.45 percent for Airtel, 6.07 percent for Reliance Jio, and 6.73 percent for Vodafone Idea. BSNL again recorded the weakest performance, with poor signal strength affecting 11.74 percent of the test route.
The results suggest that private operators delivered more consistent data connectivity across Trichy City, while BSNL continues to face network quality gaps, particularly in high usage scenarios.
Areas and locations covered
The drive test covered a wide range of residential and transit corridors, including Sethurapatti, Manikandam, Mannarpuram, MGR Nagar, Kulathur, Thuvakudi, Palpannai Junction, Lalgudi Road, Puvalur, Madakudi, Thiruppangali North, Tiruchirapalli Salem Main Road, Kulithalai, Kulumani, and Sannasipatty.
Walk tests were conducted at high footfall locations such as Trichy Sri Ranganatha Swamy Temple and Trichy Central Railway Station to assess user experience in dense environments.
In addition, stationary user experience was evaluated at key institutional and public locations, including Arulmigu Jambukeswarar Temple, District Collector Office Trichy, IIM Trichy Library, Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital, NIT Trichy, Trichy Airport, and Trichy Central Bus Stand.
Overall assessment
The December 2025 TRAI Independent Drive Test results indicate strong overall mobile network performance in Trichy City, with Airtel and Vodafone Idea leading in voice reliability and private operators maintaining better signal consistency for data services. The findings also underline the need for BSNL to improve coverage and signal strength to deliver a more competitive user experience in urban and hotspot areas.
The TRAI assessment shows strong variation in voice and data performance among operators in Trichy City. In voice services, Airtel and Vodafone Idea achieved a 100.00 percent call setup success rate, followed by Reliance Jio at 97.65 percent, while BSNL trailed at 90.51 percent. Reliance Jio delivered the fastest call setup time at 0.80 seconds and recorded the highest voice quality with an average MOS of 4.48. Airtel and Vodafone Idea also performed well with low drop call rates of zero percent, whereas BSNL reported a higher drop call rate of 5.87 percent and the highest poor signal incidence at 10.48 percent.
In data services, Reliance Jio led overall download speeds at 286.39 Mbps, followed by Airtel at 194.70 Mbps, while BSNL recorded the lowest at 5.46 Mbps. Latency was lowest on Reliance Jio at 25.06 ms, indicating better responsiveness. Hotspot testing reinforced this trend, with Reliance Jio and Airtel delivering strong 5G throughput, while BSNL continued to face signal and performance challenges. Overall, private operators demonstrated superior voice quality, data speeds, and network consistency compared with BSNL.
BABURAJAN KIZHAKEDATH