TRAI Survey Finds Jio Leads Mobile Network Performance in Uttarakhand Cities

The assessment covered city roads, crowded public locations and pedestrian zones, allowing regulators to evaluate real-world network performance experienced by consumers.

Mobile users in several parts of Uttarakhand now have a clearer picture of how telecom networks are performing in their areas. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the results of an Independent Drive Test (IDT) carried out across Rudrapur, Haldwani and Kashipur during April 2026 to measure the quality of voice and data services offered by telecom operators.

The assessment covered city roads, crowded public locations and pedestrian zones, allowing regulators to evaluate real-world network performance experienced by consumers. Airtel, BSNL, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi) were tested across different network technologies, including 4G and 5G services.

Network Coverage and Call Quality Show Mixed Results

The drive tests were conducted between April 6 and April 9 under the supervision of TRAI's Regional Office in Bhopal. The survey covered more than 400 kilometres of city routes, 14 hotspot locations and several walk-test areas in the three cities. Among the operators, Vodafone Idea recorded the fewest coverage gaps with 835 weak-signal samples out of nearly 54,000 measurements. Reliance Jio followed with 1,944 weak-signal samples, while Airtel registered 2,512. BSNL recorded the highest number of coverage gaps at 11,090 samples, indicating weaker network availability in several locations.

Call quality performance also varied. Airtel and Vi each recorded only two dropped calls during the tests, while Jio registered three dropped calls. BSNL experienced 30 dropped calls, the highest among the four operators.

TRAI also monitored call silence incidents, a situation where users experience silence during an active call. Jio recorded the lowest number of such instances with only five cases, while Airtel, BSNL and Vi reported 23, 22 and 16 incidents respectively.

Jio Tops Data Speed Rankings Across Test Areas

Data performance emerged as one of the key highlights of the survey. Reliance Jio delivered the highest average download speed at 246.69 Mbps across the tested locations. Airtel followed with an average speed of 154.21 Mbps. Vodafone Idea recorded 45.15 Mbps, while BSNL's 4G network achieved an average download speed of 9.49 Mbps.

Upload speeds showed a close contest between Jio and Airtel. Jio achieved an average upload speed of 28.59 Mbps, narrowly ahead of Airtel's 28.18 Mbps. Vodafone Idea recorded 14.10 Mbps, while BSNL delivered 4.09 Mbps.

The testing covered residential areas, transport hubs, railway stations, hospitals, educational institutions and commercial centres across the three cities. Hotspot locations included Pantnagar Airport, Haldwani Bus Stand, Kashipur Railway Station, Government Medical Colleges in Rudrapur and Haldwani, and several other high-footfall locations.

TRAI said the findings have been shared with all telecom service providers for further improvement of their networks. The regulator noted that the results reflect network performance only during the period and locations where the tests were conducted. Detailed reports and route maps have been made available on the TRAI website for public access.