Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the findings of its drive test conducted across Srinagar, Gulmarg, Anantnag and Pahalgam cities, along with the Srinagar–Pahalgam and Srinagar–Gulmarg highway routes during June 2026. The assessment evaluated the mobile network performance of Airtel, BSNL, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi) across voice and data services, covering 373.6 km of city roads, 111.5 km of highways, six hotspot locations, 4.9 km of walk tests and one inter-operator calling location.
Jio and Airtel Lead Coverage Performance
TRAI’s analysis measured poor signal strength samples during voice testing across auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). Reliance Jio delivered the strongest network coverage with only 167 poor signal samples out of 37,548 collected, followed closely by Airtel with 194 poor signal samples out of 40,350. BSNL recorded 1,380 poor signal samples out of 40,020, while Vodafone Idea reported the highest coverage gap with 4,500 poor signal samples out of 39,609.
Airtel and Jio Deliver Zero Dropped Calls
Voice call reliability remained strongest on Airtel and Reliance Jio networks, with both operators recording zero dropped calls during testing. Airtel completed all 360 successfully established calls without a drop, while Jio achieved zero dropped calls out of 361 established calls. BSNL experienced seven dropped calls out of 340 successful calls, while Vodafone Idea recorded three dropped calls out of 360 successful calls.
Airtel Records Best Call Quality
For call silence instances lasting more than three seconds during 5G/4G voice calls, Airtel achieved a flawless performance with zero silence events across 350 established calls. Reliance Jio recorded only two silence instances out of 348 calls, Vodafone Idea reported nine silence instances out of 344 calls, while BSNL experienced the highest call quality degradation with 39 silence instances out of 332 established calls.
Jio Delivers Fastest Mobile Data Speeds
Reliance Jio emerged as the fastest mobile data network in the drive test, recording an average 5G download speed of 276.92 Mbps, significantly ahead of Airtel’s 188.64 Mbps. Vodafone Idea, operating on 4G, achieved an average download speed of 24.14 Mbps, while BSNL recorded 10.77 Mbps on its 4G network.
For upload performance, Jio again led with an average upload speed of 35.90 Mbps, narrowly outperforming Airtel’s 33.69 Mbps. Vodafone Idea recorded an average upload speed of 10.79 Mbps, while BSNL achieved 6.34 Mbps.
Airtel and Jio Lead Mobile Network Performance in Anantnag and Pahalgam, BSNL and Vi Trail in Coverage and Speeds
Airtel recorded 226 poor signal samples out of 17,997 collected, while Reliance Jio registered 365 poor signal samples out of 17,914. BSNL reported 3,242 poor signal samples out of 16,735, whereas Vodafone Idea posted the weakest coverage with 6,947 poor signal samples out of 15,634.
Airtel and Jio Achieve Zero Dropped Calls
Voice call reliability remained highest on Airtel and Reliance Jio, with both operators recording zero dropped calls during testing. Airtel completed all 161 successfully established calls without a drop, while Jio also recorded zero dropped calls out of 161 established calls. BSNL experienced four dropped calls out of 142 successful calls, while Vodafone Idea recorded five dropped calls out of 145 established calls.
Airtel Leads Call Quality
Airtel delivered the best voice quality with just one call silence instance lasting more than three seconds out of 156 established calls. Reliance Jio recorded two silence instances out of 155 calls. BSNL experienced 17 silence instances out of 133 calls, while Vodafone Idea reported 10 silence instances out of 111 calls.
Airtel Tops 5G Download Speeds
Airtel emerged as the fastest operator for download performance, delivering an average 5G download speed of 183.84 Mbps. Reliance Jio followed with an average download speed of 163.53 Mbps. Vodafone Idea achieved 12.92 Mbps on its 4G network, while BSNL recorded 6.86 Mbps on 4G.
For upload performance, Reliance Jio narrowly led with an average upload speed of 24.98 Mbps, followed closely by Airtel at 24.43 Mbps. Vodafone Idea recorded an average upload speed of 5.79 Mbps, while BSNL achieved 2.91 Mbps.
Airtel Dominates Srinagar–Pahalgam Highway with 192 Mbps 5G Speed, Jio Matches Zero Dropped Calls
Airtel recorded the lowest coverage gap with just 84 poor signal samples out of 7,890 collected, followed by Reliance Jio with 138 poor signal samples out of 7,919. BSNL registered 1,912 poor signal samples out of 7,878, while Vodafone Idea recorded the highest coverage gap with 2,474 poor signal samples out of 7,699.
Airtel, BSNL and Jio Record Zero Dropped Calls
Voice call reliability was strongest on Airtel, BSNL and Reliance Jio, with all three operators recording zero dropped calls during testing. Airtel completed all 40 successfully established calls without interruption, BSNL recorded zero dropped calls out of 38 established calls, and Jio achieved zero dropped calls out of 41 established calls. Vodafone Idea recorded four dropped calls out of 41 successfully established calls.
Airtel and Jio Achieve Perfect Voice Quality
Airtel and Reliance Jio delivered flawless call quality, recording zero call silence instances lasting more than three seconds during testing. Airtel achieved this across 39 established calls, while Jio recorded zero silence events across 38 calls. Vodafone Idea reported one silence instance out of 38 calls, whereas BSNL experienced nine silence instances out of 35 established calls.
Airtel Leads Highway 5G Data Speeds
Airtel delivered the fastest mobile data performance on the Srinagar–Pahalgam Highway, recording an average 5G download speed of 192.01 Mbps. Reliance Jio achieved an average 5G download speed of 88.24 Mbps. BSNL recorded an average 4G download speed of 14.61 Mbps, marginally ahead of Vodafone Idea’s 14.27 Mbps.
For upload performance, Airtel again led with an average upload speed of 34.39 Mbps, followed by Reliance Jio at 32.05 Mbps. BSNL achieved an average upload speed of 8.00 Mbps, while Vodafone Idea recorded 5.90 Mbps.
Airtel Leads 5G Speeds on Srinagar–Gulmarg Highway, Jio Delivers Best Voice Quality
Airtel recorded the best coverage with 374 poor signal samples out of 4,876 collected, followed by Reliance Jio with 449 poor signal samples out of 4,207. BSNL registered 1,586 poor signal samples out of 4,648, while Vodafone Idea reported the highest coverage gap with 2,284 poor signal samples out of 4,499.
Airtel Records Fewest Dropped Calls
Voice call reliability varied across operators on the Srinagar–Gulmarg Highway. Airtel delivered the best performance with four dropped calls out of 27 successfully established calls. BSNL and Reliance Jio each recorded seven dropped calls, out of 26 and 27 established calls respectively, while Vodafone Idea also registered seven dropped calls out of 25 established calls.
Jio Achieves Best Voice Quality
Reliance Jio recorded the best call quality with zero call silence instances lasting more than three seconds across 22 established calls. Vodafone Idea followed with one silence instance out of 21 calls. Airtel recorded four silence instances out of 25 calls, while BSNL experienced seven silence instances out of 26 established calls.
Airtel Delivers Fastest 5G Data Speeds
Airtel emerged as the fastest mobile data network on the Srinagar–Gulmarg Highway, achieving an average 5G download speed of 176.89 Mbps. Reliance Jio recorded an average 5G download speed of 88.14 Mbps. Vodafone Idea delivered an average 4G download speed of 13.80 Mbps, while BSNL recorded 8.82 Mbps.
For upload performance, Airtel again led with an average upload speed of 36.14 Mbps, followed closely by Reliance Jio at 33.45 Mbps. Vodafone Idea achieved an average upload speed of 5.09 Mbps, while BSNL recorded 4.20 Mbps.
SHAFANA FAZAL
