Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released its drive test results for West Bengal, offering a comprehensive assessment of mobile network performance across North 24 Parganas and Nadia districts, key highway stretches along NH-12, and the railway corridor from Howrah to Bardhaman via Bandel.
The testing exercise conducted in February 2026 covered urban areas, institutional hotspots, residential zones, business districts, highways, and railway routes, reflecting real-world user experience across multiple network technologies including 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G.
Extensive testing across city, highway, and railway routes
TRAI conducted drive and walk tests between February 10 and February 21, 2026, covering:
436.3 km of city drive tests
363.6 km of highway drive tests
107.3 km of railway route testing
28 hotspot locations and 4.4 km of walk tests
The study included key locations such as Habra, Bangaon, Ranaghat, Krishnanagar, Basirhat, and Mayapur, along with highway segments from Barasat to Raiganj passing through Farakka and Gazole.
Voice performance: Vodafone Idea and Reliance Jio deliver high call success rates
In auto-selection mode (5G, 4G, 3G, 2G), voice service performance showed strong results from private operators:
Bharti Airtel recorded a call setup success rate of 96.66 percent
Bharat Sanchar Nigam (BSNL) lagged at 83.79 percent
Reliance Jio achieved 99.72 percent
Vodafone Idea led with 99.91 percent
Drop call rates remained minimal for most operators, with Airtel reporting zero percent and both Jio and Vodafone Idea at 0.55 percent, while BSNL recorded a significantly higher 5.85 percent.
Call setup time further highlighted performance gaps, with Jio delivering the fastest connection at 0.62 seconds, compared to BSNL’s 6.33 seconds.
Voice quality, measured through Mean Opinion Score (MOS), also favored private operators, with Jio achieving 4.52 and Vodafone Idea 4.45, while BSNL trailed at 3.13.
Data performance: Reliance Jio dominates 5G speeds
TRAI’s findings underline a clear lead by Reliance Jio in data performance, especially in 5G:
Jio delivered the highest average download speed of 212.68 Mbps
Airtel followed with 120.39 Mbps
Vodafone Idea recorded 23.36 Mbps
BSNL lagged at 12.50 Mbps
Upload speeds showed a similar trend:
Airtel led with 28.09 Mbps
Jio achieved 25.87 Mbps
Vodafone Idea recorded 13.73 Mbps
BSNL remained lowest at 4.06 Mbps
Latency performance was also competitive, with Jio achieving the lowest median latency at 42.29 ms, followed by Vodafone Idea and BSNL, while Airtel recorded slightly higher latency.
5G hotspot performance strengthens competitive edge
At hotspot locations, 5G significantly boosted user experience:
Jio recorded peak 5G download speeds of 242.15 Mbps
Airtel achieved 181.53 Mbps
Upload speeds reached up to 36.97 Mbps for Airtel and 29.64 Mbps for Jio
These results highlight the growing maturity of 5G deployments in high-demand zones.
Signal strength issues persist, especially for BSNL
Despite strong performance from private operators, TRAI identified notable signal strength challenges:
BSNL recorded high levels of poor signal samples across city (34.01 percent for voice), highway (27.80 percent), and railway routes
Airtel, Jio, and Vodafone Idea maintained relatively low levels of poor signal strength across most test scenarios
Data testing also revealed signal inconsistencies, particularly for BSNL and Vodafone Idea in certain environments, including railway corridors.
Mixed performance across transport corridors
While highway and railway routes generally showed stable connectivity for Airtel, Jio, and Vodafone Idea, BSNL continued to face challenges, particularly in data reliability and signal consistency.
Railway routes showed increased variability in performance, indicating the need for enhanced network optimization along high-mobility corridors.
SHAFANA FAZAL
