Reliance Jio recorded the fastest download speed of 297.95 Mbps, while Airtel registered the lowest share of poor-signal samples in TRAI’s mobile network tests across parts of Kolkata city, Howrah and Hooghly districts.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India released the results on 15 October 2026, based on testing conducted from 13–16 July 2026. The assessment covered 309.7 km of city driving, 10 hotspots and 2.8 km of walk tests within the Kolkata Licensed Service Area.
Jio also recorded zero dropped calls out of 468 successfully established calls. Airtel delivered an download speed of 255.13 Mbps, with just 122 poor-signal samples out of 65,638 samples collected during voice testing.
Jio Leads Download Speeds, Airtel Follows
Jio’s download speed exceeded Airtel’s by 42.82 Mbps, or approximately 16.8 percent. Vodafone Idea, marketed as Vi, recorded 49.06 Mbps, while BSNL delivered 7.98 Mbps.
Jio’s download speed was approximately 6.1 times Vi’s, while Airtel’s was 5.2 times Vi’s.
The release identifies the overall download results as covering 5G/4G for Airtel and Jio, and 4G/2G for BSNL and Vi. These results therefore reflect the network technologies available during testing, alongside each operator’s performance.
Airtel Records Lowest Poor-Signal Share
Airtel recorded the strongest coverage result on the tested city routes, with poor signal affecting approximately 0.19 percent of samples. Jio followed at 0.28 percent, ahead of Vi at 0.61 percent and BSNL at 6.03 percent.
| Operator | Poor-signal samples | Total samples | |
| Airtel | 122 | 65,638 | |
| Reliance Jio | 181 | 65,280 | |
| Vodafone Idea | 401 | 65,726 | |
| BSNL | 3,904 | 64,760 |
TRAI classified signal strength as poor below −110 dBm for 4G and 5G, −90 dBm for 3G, and −85 dBm for 2G.
Jio Records Zero Dropped Calls
Jio delivered the best dropped-call result, with no disconnections among 468 successfully established calls. Airtel recorded one dropped call, Vi recorded two, and BSNL recorded 15.
| Operator | Successfully established calls | Dropped calls | Calculated drop rate |
| Reliance Jio | 468 | 0 | 0.00% |
| Airtel | 466 | 1 | 0.21% |
| Vodafone Idea | 462 | 2 | 0.43% |
| BSNL | 483 | 15 | 3.11% |
These figures measure disconnections after calls were established. They do not indicate call setup success rates.
Airtel and Jio Record Fewer Calls With Silence
The call-silence assessment measured interruptions lasting more than three seconds during calls within the same operator’s network.
Airtel and Jio each recorded four calls affected by silence, compared with 24 for Vi and 26 for BSNL.
| Operator | Calls tested | Calls with silence exceeding 3 seconds | Total silence instances |
| Airtel | 454 | 4 | 6 |
| Reliance Jio | 455 | 4 | 5 |
| Vodafone Idea | 467 | 24 | 39 |
| BSNL | 458 | 26 | 36 |
The distinction matters because a single call can contain multiple silence instances. Vi recorded the highest number of individual interruptions at 39, while BSNL had the highest number of affected calls at 26.
Test Coverage Includes Howrah and Hooghly Locations
The city routes included Chinsurah, Serampore, Uttarpara, Bally, Howrah, Shibpur, Santragachi, Dankuni and Singur, among other locations.
Walk tests covered Howrah Station New Complex, Santragachi Junction and Uluberia Super Speciality Hospital. Hotspot testing included locations such as Nabanna State Secretariat, Hooghly Mohsin College and Sheoraphuli Ferry Ghat.
The findings establish Jio’s lead in download speed and dropped-call performance, while Airtel recorded the lowest poor-signal share.
SHAFANA FAZAL