India, Aug. 14 -- The Government of India has issued a release:
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released findings of Independent Drive Test (IDT) conducted across Shimla & Solan and nearby areas Route under HP LSA, during the month of June 2026, for information of general telecom consumers. The purpose of this drive test is to assess and verify real time quality of mobile network services (both voice & data) provided by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs). During the IDT, TRAI captures performance of TSPs for key Quality of Service (QoS) parameters like Coverage, Call Drop Rate (CDR), Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR), data Download (DL) and Upload (UL) throughput etc., which are then published to inform Consumers and encourage TSPs to improve their services.
These IDTs have been designed to capture on ground mobile network performance of all TSPs across diverse usages environment like cities, hotspots, public transport hubs, etc. In this type of drive testing, live data and voice sessions are established using SIM cards from all TSPs over 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G networks. Multiple advanced test handsets are used, and the sessions are monitored and analyzed in real-time using advanced Software Systems.
TRAI, through its appointed agency, conducted drive tests across Highway Drive - 35.9 Km, City drive - 384.8 Km, Hotspot locations - 12, Walk Test - 4.9 Km and Inter Operator Calling at 01 location during 15th June 2026 to 19th June 2026 in HP LSA. These tests were conducted under the supervision of the TRAI Regional Office Delhi. The observations presented in drive test reports represent the performance of the TSPs on the area / route under test on the day / time of conducting the drive test.
Drive test routes: The following map provides overview of drive test routes indicating Highway Drive, City drive, Hotspots, Walk tests & Inter-operator calling, as per the legends shown on the map: -
Figure-1: Drive test routes
(a) Coverage Gap: Percentage of samples, for which signal strength observed less than the minimum prescribed signal strength for respective technology (2G/ 3G/ 4G/ 5G).
(b) Voice Services: Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR), Drop Call Rate (DCR), Call Setup Time, Call Silence Rate, Speech Quality (MOS).
(c) Call Silence Instance: Number of call silence instances occurred during the calls.
(d) Data Services: Download / Upload Throughput, Latency, Jitter, Packet Drop Rate.
The overall mobile network performance in Shimla and nearby areas route for the key parameters has been summarized below: -
Locations of Dropped Calls and Call Silence instances can be seen by clicking red dot on the map of Annexure-I.
The overall mobile network performance in Solan and nearby areas route for the key parameters has been summarized below: -
i) Data Download performance (Overall): Average download speed was observed as 170.17 Mbps for Airtel (5G), 11.99 Mbps for BSNL (4G), 208.71 Mbps for RJIL (5G) and 8.77 Mbps for VIL (4G). Detail of Download throughput has been provided in the map of Annexure-II.
ii) Data Upload performance (Overall): Average upload speed was observed as 26.31 Mbps for Airtel (5G), 6.35 Mbps for BSNL (4G), 26.55 Mbps for RJIL (5G) and 6.38 Mbps for VIL (4G). Details of Upload throughput have been provided in the map of Annexure-II.
Locations of Dropped Calls and Call Silence instances can be seen by clicking red dot on the map of Annexure-II.
The overall mobile network performance in Highway route from Solan to Shimla for the key parameters has been summarized below: -
i) Data Download performance (Overall): Average download speed was observed as 81.98 Mbps for Airtel (5G), 11.20 Mbps for BSNL (4G), 126.64 Mbps for RJIL (5G) and 9.13 Mbps for VIL (4G). Detail of Download throughput has been provided in the map of Annexure-III.
ii) Data Upload performance (Overall): Average upload speed was observed as 13.73 Mbps for Airtel (5G), 4.31 Mbps for BSNL (4G), 14.87 Mbps for RJIL (5G) and 4.88 Mbps for VIL (4G). Details of Upload throughput have been provided in the map of Annexure-III.
Locations of Dropped Calls and Call Silence instances can be seen by clicking red dot on the map of Annexure-III.
Details of drive test route and area covered during the IDT are as below: -
The findings of this IDT report have been shared with respective TSPs for taking further necessary action at their end. Detailed reports of IDT are made available on the TRAI website at www.trai.gov.in. For any clarification or additional information, an email can be sent to adv.ca@trai.gov or Regional Office of TRAI at Delhi RO can be contacted on telephone No. +91-11-20907772.
Click here to see Annexure
NJ/ARJ
Disclaimer: Curated by HT Syndication.
