The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released its drive test findings, highlighting mobile network performance across Kadapa city and surrounding regions in Andhra Pradesh during February 2026.
Between February 17 and 19, 2026, TRAI covered 395.6 km of drive testing, 5.1 km of walk testing, and evaluated performance across eight key hotspot locations. The assessment included multiple technologies – 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G – ensuring a comprehensive view of network quality across different devices and usage scenarios.
Strong Voice Performance with Variations Across Operators
Voice service quality remained largely robust across telecom operators, with high call setup success rates recorded in auto-selection mode (5G, 4G, 3G, 2G). Bharti Airtel achieved 99.59 percent, followed by Reliance Jio at 99.17 percent, Vodafone Idea at 96.36 percent, and BSNL at 93.74 percent.
Call setup time was fastest for Vodafone Idea at 0.53 seconds, while Reliance Jio recorded 0.74 seconds, Airtel 0.97 seconds, and BSNL 1.35 seconds. Drop call rates remained low overall, with Airtel and Jio both at 0.21 percent, compared to Vodafone Idea at 1.05 percent and BSNL at 1.29 percent.
Speech quality, measured through Mean Opinion Score (MOS), showed Reliance Jio leading with a score of 4.41, followed by Airtel at 3.97, Vodafone Idea at 3.87, and BSNL at 3.27. However, signal strength issues persisted in certain areas, with BSNL experiencing poor signal conditions across 18.70 percent of the tested route, compared to Airtel at 2.08 percent, Jio at 1.86 percent, and Vodafone Idea at 10.13 percent.
Data Speeds Highlight 5G Advantage
Data performance analysis revealed a significant gap between operators, particularly in download speeds. Reliance Jio led with an average download speed of 229.13 Mbps across 5G and 4G networks, followed by Airtel at 131.28 Mbps. Vodafone Idea and BSNL lagged behind with 28.57 Mbps and 14.34 Mbps respectively.
Upload speeds showed Airtel ahead at 24.86 Mbps, while Jio recorded 18.56 Mbps, Vodafone Idea 8.48 Mbps, and BSNL 4.13 Mbps. Latency performance was strongest for Jio at 24.36 ms, compared to Airtel at 40.35 ms, Vodafone Idea at 46.12 ms, and BSNL at 50.75 ms.
Hotspot testing further underscored the impact of 5G, with Jio achieving peak download speeds of 289.73 Mbps and Airtel reaching 185.80 Mbps in 5G environments. In comparison, 4G speeds across operators remained significantly lower.
Coverage Gaps Persist Despite Network Expansion
Despite strong performance metrics, coverage gaps were observed during both voice and data testing. Poor signal strength during data tests affected 20.32 percent of BSNL’s route coverage, followed by Vodafone Idea at 16.57 percent, Airtel at 15.21 percent, and Jio at 12.28 percent.
The walk tests conducted at high-footfall locations such as Kadapa Railway Station and YV Street Market, along with hotspot evaluations at key public infrastructure points including Collector Office, Government Arts College, Government General Hospital, Bus Stand, Seven Road Circle, Sri Vijaya Durga Devi Temple, and YSR Reddy Stadium, provided additional insights into stationary user experience.
SHAFANA FAZAL
