The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released findings of Independent Drive Test (IDT) conducted across North Delhi and nearby areas Route under Delhi LSA, during the month of Apr 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 analysed in real-time using advanced Software Systems.
TRAI, through its appointed agency, conducted drive tests across City drive – 374.2 Kms, Hotspot locations – 13, Walk Test – 7.0 Kms and Airport Route – 57.8 Kms from 13th Apr 2026 to 17th Apr 2026 in Delhi 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 Route Map: The following map provides overview of drive test routes indicating City drive, Inter-operator calling, Hotspots and Walk tests, as per the legends shown on the map: –
Key Parameters Assessed
Coverage Gap: Percentage of samples, for which signal strength observed less than the minimum prescribed signal strength for the respective technology (2G/ 3G/ 4G/ 5G).
Voice Services: Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR), Drop Call Rate (DCR), Call Setup Time, Call Silence Rate, Speech Quality (MOS).
Call Silence Instance: Number of call silence instances occurred during the calls.
Data Services: Download/ Upload Throughput, Latency, Jitter, Packet Drop Rate
The overall mobile network performance in North Delhi and nearby areas route for the key parameters has been summarized below: –
Coverage Gap – The signal strength observed during voice testing on the drive test route in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G), measured as the number of samples having poor signal strength out of the total samples collected, was 719/ 50951 for Airtel, 31918/ 44486 for MTNL, 709/ 49966 for RJIL and 507/ 51031 for VIL. Details of the coverage gaps have been provided in the map of Annexure-I.
Dropped Calls – Dropped calls in auto-selection mode (5G/ 4G/ 3G/ 2G), measured as the number of dropped calls out of the number of successfully established calls, were 3/ 452 for Airtel, 48/ 362 for MTNL, 4/ 459 for RJIL and 0/ 459 for VIL. Details of the dropped call locations have been provided in the map of Annexure-I.
Call Silence Instance – Call silence instances in auto-selection mode (5G/4G), measured as the total number of silence instances observed for > 3 seconds out of the total calls established, were 14/ 435 for Airtel, 10/ 435 for RJIL and 24/ 449 for VIL. Details of the call silence instance locations have been provided in the map of Annexure-I.
Data Download and Upload Throughput:
Data Download performance (Overall): Average download speed was observed as 178.70 Mbps for Airtel (5G), 4.25 Mbps for MTNL (3G), 248.72 Mbps for RJIL (5G) and 23.80 Mbps for VIL (5G). Detail of Download throughput has been provided in the map of Annexure-I.
Data Upload performance (Overall): Average upload speed was observed as 27.18 Mbps for Airtel (5G), 1.39 Mbps for MTNL (3G), 25.67 Mbps for RJIL (5G) and 12.33 Mbps for VIL (5G). Details of Upload throughput has been provided in the map of Annexure-I
Locations of Dropped Calls and Call Silence instances can be seen by clicking the red dot on the map of Annexure-I.
The overall mobile network performance in Airport Route for the key parameters has been summarized below: –
Coverage Gap – The signal strength observed during voice testing on the drive test route in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G), measured as the number of samples having poor signal strength out of the total samples collected, was 30/ 7324 for Airtel, 5262 /7260 for MTNL, 11 /7258 for RJIL and 42 / 7316 for VIL. Details of the coverage gaps have been provided in the map of Annexure-II.
Dropped Calls – Dropped calls in auto-selection mode (5G/ 4G/ 3G/ 2G), measured as the number of dropped calls out of the number of successfully established calls, were 1/ 66 for Airtel, 19/ 70 for MTNL, 0/ 66 for RJIL and 1/ 66 for VIL. Details of the dropped call locations have been provided in the map of Annexure-II.
Call Silence Instance – Call silence instances instance in Auto-selection mode (5G/4G), measured as the total number of silence instances observed for > 3 seconds out of the total calls established, were 0/ 64 for Airtel, 0/ 63 for RJIL and 5/ 62 for VIL. Details of the call silence instance locations have been provided in the map of An
d) Data Download and Upload Throughput:
Data Download performance (Overall): Average download speed was observed as 132.26 Mbps for Airtel (5G), 4.28 Mbps for MTNL (3G), 222.34 Mbps for RJIL (5G) and 35.28 Mbps for VIL (5G). Detail of Download throughput has been provided in the map of Annexure-II.
Data Upload performance (Overall): Average upload speed was observed as 28.36 Mbps for Airtel (5G), 1.14 Mbps for MTNL (3G), 23.55 Mbps for RJIL (5G) and 25.18 Mbps for VIL(5G). Detail of Upload throughput has 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.
Details of drive test route and area covered during the IDT is as below: –
City – The areas covered in the city drive are Jaunti, Kanjhawala, Bawana, Bakoli, Alipur, Rohini, Karala, Shastri Park, Burari, Shalimar Bagh, Mukherjee Nagar, Wazirabad, Ashok Nagar, Paschim Vihar and Janakpuri etc.
Airport – The area covered in the Airport route is Noida Sector 121 to IGI Airport Route.
Hotspot – The hotspot locations, capturing stationary user experience are Bal Bharti Public School Pitampura, Delhi Technological University Daulatpur Delhi, District Court Rohini, Fortis Hospital Shalimar Bagh, Gurudwara Nanak Piao Sahib Near Model Town Metro Station, IGI Airport Terminal 1, IGI Airport Terminal 2, IGI Airport Terminal 3, ISBT Kashmere Gate, ISKCON Temple Rohini, Jaipur Golden Hospital Rohini, Rohini West Metro Station and Samaypur Badli Metro Station.
Walk Test – The walk tests conducted from 16th Apr 2026 to 17th Apr 2026, covered Azadpur Mandi & Delhi Sarai Rohilla Railway Station capturing mobile network behaviors in crowded pedestrian environments.
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 [email protected] or Regional Office of TRAI at Delhi RO can be contacted on telephone no. +91-11-20907772.
