The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released its drive test findings for Kottayam in Kerala, offering a detailed assessment of mobile network performance across city, highway, and coastal routes.
TRAI’s Bengaluru regional office conducted the tests to capture real-world user experience across urban zones, institutional hotspots, transport hubs, and high-speed corridors.
Between February 10 and February 13, 2026, TRAI conducted testing covering 503.9 km, including 306 km of city routes, 176.3 km of highways, 12.4 km of coastal stretches, 9.2 km of walk tests, and 10 hotspot locations. The evaluation spanned 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G technologies, reflecting network performance across a wide range of devices and usage scenarios.
Near-Perfect Call Setup Success but BSNL Lags
Voice performance remained strong overall, with Reliance Jio achieving a perfect 100.00 percent call setup success rate, followed by Airtel at 99.84 percent and Vodafone Idea at 98.92 percent. BSNL trailed at 89.02 percent, indicating notable performance gaps.
Call setup time was fastest on Reliance Jio at 0.58 seconds, followed by Vodafone Idea at 0.78 seconds and Airtel at 1.23 seconds, while BSNL recorded 2.05 seconds. Drop call rates were lowest for Airtel at 0.16 percent, compared to Vodafone Idea at 0.47 percent and Jio at 0.31 percent, while BSNL again lagged with 7.53 percent.
Speech quality scores further highlighted operator differences, with Reliance Jio leading at 4.58 MOS, closely followed by Vodafone Idea at 4.52 and Airtel at 4.04, while BSNL recorded 3.10. Call silence rates were minimal for Jio at 0.00 percent and Airtel at 0.52 percent, compared to Vodafone Idea at 2.07 percent and BSNL at 5.77 percent.
Jio Leads Data Speeds, Airtel Close Behind
Data performance showcased the growing dominance of 5G networks. Reliance Jio delivered the highest average download speed at 318.34 Mbps, followed by Airtel at 149.07 Mbps. Vodafone Idea and BSNL recorded significantly lower speeds at 22.95 Mbps and 10.33 Mbps respectively.
Upload speeds were led by Reliance Jio at 26.78 Mbps and Airtel at 25.56 Mbps, with Vodafone Idea at 18.71 Mbps and BSNL at 4.41 Mbps. Latency performance was strongest for Jio at 25.80 ms, compared to Airtel at 40.54 ms, Vodafone Idea at 40.89 ms, and BSNL at 58.85 ms.
Hotspot testing reinforced 5G advantages, with Jio achieving peak download speeds of 363.65 Mbps and Airtel reaching 239.21 Mbps. Vodafone Idea showed moderate 5G performance, while BSNL remained limited to 4G networks.
Coastal Routes Show Significant Signal Challenges
Despite strong overall metrics, the findings highlighted notable coverage challenges, particularly along coastal routes. Poor signal strength during data testing reached as high as 61.16 percent for Airtel and 54.89 percent for Jio on coastal stretches, while Vodafone Idea performed relatively better at 13.80 percent and BSNL at 23.14 percent.
In city areas, poor signal strength during data testing was observed in 17.63 percent of Airtel routes, 13.37 percent for BSNL, 10.84 percent for Jio, and 8.54 percent for Vodafone Idea. Highway performance showed improved consistency, though gaps persisted across operators.
Extensive Real-World Testing Across Kottayam Region
The assessment covered key neighborhoods including Nattakom, Puthuppally, Pampady, Ettumanoor, Kidangoor, Neendoor, and Kumarakom, along with major public locations such as District Collectorate, Government Medical College Hospital, Kottayam Railway Station, KSRTC Bus Stand, Lulu Mall, Nehru Stadium, and Thirunakkara Temple.
Walk tests conducted in high-density pedestrian areas such as Kottayam Railway Station, Nagampadam Bus Stand, and Thirunakkara Market captured user experience in crowded environments. Highway testing from Kottayam to Kochi via Thiruvalla, Kayamkulam, Alappuzha, Cherthala, and Aluva evaluated connectivity in transit, while coastal routes including Kumarakom and Cheepunkal assessed network performance in tourism-heavy zones.
SHAFANA FAZAL
