TRAI Assesses Mobile Network Quality Across city drive in Virudnagar and Tenkasi districts on Tamil Nadu LSA
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released findings of Independent Drive Test (IDT) conducted across city drive in Virudnagar and Tenkasi districts in Tamil Nadu 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 analysed in real-time using advanced Software Systems.
TRAI, through its appointed agency, conducted drive tests across City drive 273.1 Kms, Hotspot locations 4 in Virudnagar and Tenkasi districts in Tamil Nadu LSA during 16th June 2026 to 18th June 2026 in Tamil Nadu LSA. These tests were conducted under the supervision of the TRAI Regional Office Hyderabad. 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 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 instance occurred during the calls.
- Data Servies: Download/ Upload Throughput, Latency, Jitter, Packet Drop Rate
The overall mobile network performance in Hyderabad for the key parameters has been summarised below:-
a) Coverage Gap – (i) 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 456/41110 for Airtel, 3466/40362 for BSNL, 911/ 39132 for RJIL and 1552/ 40918 for VIL. Details of the coverage gaps have been provided in the map Annexed.
(ii) 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 Limited service (No Coverage) out of the total samples collected, was 0/41110 for Airtel, 201/40362 for BSNL, 0/39132 for RJIL and 2/376 for VIL. Details of the coverage gaps have been provided in the map Annexed.
b) Dropped Calls - Dropped calls, measured as the number of dropped calls out of the number of successfully established calls, were 0/367 for Airtel, 5/331 for BSNL, 0/344 for RJIL and 2/376 for VIL Details of the dropped call locations have been provided in the map Annexed.
c) Call Silence Instance - Call silence instances, measured as the total number of silence instances observed for > 3 seconds out of the total calls established, were 3/349 for Airtel, 32/332 for BSNL 8/353 RJIL and 4/366 for VIL. Details of the call silence instance locations have been provided in the map Annexed.
d) Data Download and Upload Throughput:
i) Data Download performance (Overall): Average download speed was observed as 157.73 Mbps for Airtel (5G/4G), 6.25 Mbps for BSNL (3G), 275.96 Mbps for RJIL (5G/4G) and 26.36 Mbps for VIL (5G/4G/2G). Detail of Download throughput has been provided in the map Annexed.
ii) Data Upload performance (Overall): Average upload speed was observed as 21.94 Mbps for Airtel (5G/4G), 2.98 Mbps for BSNL (3G), 19.06 Mbps for RJIL (5G/4G) and 12.46 Mbps for VIL (5G/4G/2G). Detail of Upload throughput has been provided in the map Annexed.
Locations of Dropped Calls and Call Silence instances can be seen by clicking red dot on the map Annexed.
Details of drive test route and area covered during the IDT is as under:-
- City: Virudhunagar, Sivakasi & Tenkasi city and Nearby areas: - Allampatti, misalur, Koorakikundu, Muthulingapuram, Sivakasi, Thiruthangal, Achampudur, Panboli, Shenkottai, Courtallam, Thiraviya Nagar, Veikalipatty, Pavoorchatram, Tenkasi, Ayikudy and Elathur etc.
- Hotspots: 1.Kaasi Vishwanathar Temple - Tenkasi ,2. Sivakasi Bus Stand 3. Tenkasi New Bus Stand 4. Virudhunagar New Bus Stand
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.hydreabad@trai.gov.in or Regional Office of TRAI can be contacted on telephone no. 040-23000761.
Click here for annexure
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