TRAI Assesses Mobile Network Quality Across Alipurduar and Cooch Behar Districts and adjoining areas in the State of West Bengal under West Bengal LSA.

Information Note to the Press (Press Release No. 103 /2026) TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA www.trai.gov.in New Delhi,23 July 2026 For Immediate Release TRAI Assesses Mobile Network Quality Across Alipurduar and Cooch Behar Districts and adjoining areas in the State of West Bengal under West Bengal LSA. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released findings of Independent Drive Test (IDT) conducted across Alipurduar and Cooch Behar Districts and adjoining areas in the State of West Bengal under West Bengal 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. 2. 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. 3. TRAI, through its appointed agency, conducted drive tests across City drive – 494.5 KMs, Hotspot locations - 16, Walk Test – 3.8 KMs in West Bengal State during 9th June 2026 to 13th June 2026 in West Bengal LSA. These tests were conducted under the supervision of the TRAI Regional Office Kolkata. 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. 4. 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: - 15. Key Parameters Assessed 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 instance occurred during the calls. d) Data Services: Download/ Upload Throughput, Latency, Jitter, Packet Drop Rate 6. The overall mobile network performance in Alipurduar and Cooch Behar Districts and adjoining areas for the key parameters has been summarised below: - a) Coverage Gap - The signal strength observed during voice testing on the city 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 2771/ 64500 for Airtel, 21699/ 59947 for BSNL, 3101/ 60695 for RJIL and 10964/ 64434 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/ 453 for Airtel, 26/ 424 for BSNL, 3/ 457 for RJIL and 5/ 450 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 19/ 446 for Airtel, 5/ 352 for BSNL, 10/ 443 for RJIL and 27/ 389 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 78.63 Mbps for Airtel (5G/4G), 11.81 Mbps for BSNL (4G/2G), 154.29 Mbps for RJIL (5G/4G) and 22.98 Mbps for VIL (4G/2G). Detail of Download throughput has been provided in the map Annexed. ii) Data Upload performance (Overall): Average upload speed was observed as 18.05 Mbps for Airtel (5G/4G), 5.23 Mbps for BSNL (4G/ 2G), 15.59 Mbps for RJIL (5G/4G) and 11.77 Mbps for VIL (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. 7. Details of drive test route and area covered during the IDT is as under: - a) City - The areas covered in the city drive are Birpara, Hasimara, Kalchini, Alipurduar, Rasikbil, Tufanganj, Balarampur, Dinhata, Kamtapur, Sitai, Sitalkuchi, Mathabhanga, Ghoksadanga, Falakat etc in Cities & adjoining areas of Alipurduar and Cooch Behar Districts.. b) Hotspot - The hot spot locations, capturing stationary user experience, are (i) Alipurduar Bus Stand Alipurduar; (ii) Alipurduar District Hospital - Hospital Road Alipurduar; (iii) Alipurduar Post Office (Mukhya Dak Ghar) 362 Station Road Sobhaganj; (iv) Alipurduar University Sobhaganj; (v) Buxa Tiger Reserve Forest SH12A Rajabhat Khawa; (vi) Cooch Behar Government Engineering College Post Ghughumari Harinchawra; (vii) Cooch Behar Head Post Office Sunity Road Cooch Behar; (viii) Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University Shankar Mandal Road; (ix) Cooch Behar Royal Palace Bus Terminus Keshab Road; (x) Dooars Kanya District Government Office Alipurduar; (xi) Jaldapara National Park Jaldapara Uttar Madarihat; (xii) Kamakhyaguri Railway Station; (xiii) Madan Mohan Temple Cooch Behar; (xiv) Mathabhanga College Siliguri Road Khaterbari; (xv) Sitalkuchi BDO Office Sitai Road Sitalkuchi; (xvi) Tufanganj Hospital Tufanganj. 2Annexure 1. Alipurduar and Cooch Behar Districts (City drive) a) Coverage Gap – The coverage distribution found less than the minimum specified signal strength for the drive test route in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G) during voice testing, is as below: Parameter AIRTEL BSNL RJIL VIL Total Number of Samples captured on Drive test route 64500 59947 60695 63434 Number of Samples having poor signal strength 2771 21699 3101 10964 Number of Samples having limited service (No Coverage) 0 1794 25 135 Note: Signal strength has been considered poor if it falls below −110 dBm for 5G & 4G, −90 dBm for 3G, and −85 dBm for 2G. Coverage Gap observed A I R TEL BSNL 4RJIL VIL Note: Plot is based on Dynamic Drive Test results only. 5b) Dropped Calls - The TSP-wise details of dropped calls in auto-selection mode (5G/ 4G/ 3G/ 2G) are as below: Parameter AIRTEL BSNL RJIL VIL Number of successful Calls Established 453 424 457 450 Number of dropped Calls 0 26 3 5 Locations of Dropped Calls BSNL RJIL VIL Note: Dropped calls locations are shown in red colour and which can be clicked to know the exact location (latitude and longitude) on the maps. 6c) Call Silence Instance - The TSP-wise details of Call silence instance in Auto-selection mode (5G/4G) are as below: Parameter AIRTEL BSNL RJIL VIL Call Established 446 352 443 389 (within service provider network) Number of silences calls for >3 Sec 19 5 10 27 Total number of silence instances for >3 Sec 32 6 10 35 Locations of Call Silence Instance AIRT EL BSNL RJIL VIL Note: Call silence instances are shown in red colour and which can be clicked to know the exact location (latitude and longitude) on the map. 7d) Data Download and Upload throughput: The TSP-wise details of Average Download (DL) and Upload (UL) throughput against declared typical DL/UL Throughput for month, in Auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G) are as below: (i) Download Throughput RJIL Measured AIRTEL BSNL VIL Parameter (upto 5G) in (upto 5G) (upto 4G) (upto 4G) Typical Download throughput (Mbits/s) 18.00 5.00 15.00 15.00 declared by TSP Average Download Throughput (Mbits/s) 78.63 11.81 154.29 22.98 measured during IDT AIRTEL BSNL BSNL 8RJIL VIL 9(ii) Upload Throughput RJIL Measured AIRTEL BSNL VIL Parameter (upto 5G) in (upto 5G) (upto 4G) (upto 4G) Typical upload throughput (Mbits/s) 8.00 3.00 7.00 8.00 declared by TSP Average Upload Throughput measured during IDT (Mbits/s) 18.05 5.23 15.59 11.77 AIRTEL BSNL Note: Plot is based on Dynamic Drive Test results only. 10RJIL VIL 11