TRAI Drive Test Maps Mobile Network Quality in Haridwar, Rishikesh

The drive tests were conducted between 29 June and 1 July 2026 under the supervision of TRAI's Regional Office in Bhopal.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the findings of its latest Independent Drive Test (IDT) covering Haridwar and Rishikesh in Uttar Pradesh West Licensed Service Area (UPW LSA), offering telecom users a detailed picture of voice and data network performance across the two cities. The assessment was carried out to measure the real-world quality of mobile services provided by telecom operators and encourage further improvements in network performance.

Survey Covered Cities, Hotspots and Public Areas

The drive tests were conducted between 29 June and 1 July 2026 under the supervision of TRAI's Regional Office in Bhopal. The survey covered 292.3 kilometres of city roads, seven hotspot locations and 1.4 kilometres of walk tests across crowded public spaces to evaluate mobile network performance under different usage conditions.

The exercise examined several Quality of Service (QoS) indicators, including signal coverage, call setup success, dropped calls, call setup time, speech quality, call silence, download and upload speeds, latency, jitter and packet loss. Officials said the findings reflect network performance only during the locations, dates and times when the tests were conducted.

Voice Network Performance Varies Across Operators

The assessment found differences in signal coverage among telecom operators. During voice testing, Vi (VIL) recorded the fewest poor signal samples with 952 out of 50,338, followed by Airtel with 1,534 out of 50,508, Reliance Jio (RJIL) with 2,699 out of 50,069 and BSNL with 3,920 out of 49,983 samples.

Call reliability also differed between providers. Vi reported no dropped calls out of 451 successfully connected calls, while Reliance Jio recorded 2 dropped calls out of 453 connections. Airtel registered 10 dropped calls from 430 successful calls, and BSNL reported 13 dropped calls from 426 connected calls.

Call silence lasting more than three seconds was another parameter assessed. Airtel recorded 9 instances, BSNL 21, Reliance Jio 18, and Vi 12 during the testing period.

Jio Leads Download Speed Results

TRAI's data showed Reliance Jio delivered the highest average download speed at 205.57 Mbps on its 5G network. Airtel followed with 128.99 Mbps, Vi recorded 58.46 Mbps, while BSNL's 4G network achieved 7.96 Mbps.

For upload performance, Airtel led with an average speed of 24.54 Mbps, closely followed by Reliance Jio at 23.21 Mbps. Vi recorded 14.79 Mbps, while BSNL achieved 4.11 Mbps.

Findings Shared With Telecom Operators

The survey covered key locations including Haridwar, Rishikesh, Doiwala, Jolly Grant, Tapovan, Raiwala, Jwalapur, Bahadrabad, Devpura and Ranipur, along with hotspot locations such as Haridwar Railway Station, Jolly Grant Airport, Yog Nagari Rishikesh Railway Station, Raiwala Junction and Rishikesh Bus Stand. Walk tests were conducted at Har Ki Pauri in Haridwar and Triveni Ganga Ghat in Rishikesh to assess network quality in crowded pedestrian areas.

TRAI has shared the findings with the respective telecom service providers for necessary action. The regulator said the reports are intended to help operators improve service quality while providing consumers with transparent information about network performance.