**Executive Summary**
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released results from Independent Drive Tests (IDT) conducted between April 20 and April 21, 2026, to assess mobile network quality on the Hindupur-Hyderabad highway and railway routes. The report evaluates key performance indicators for voice and data services across major Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) to inform consumers and drive service improvements. Findings have been shared with TSPs for immediate corrective action to address identified coverage gaps and service failures.
**Key Points / Main Content**
**Scope and Methodology**
* **Routes Covered:** The assessment included a 473.7 KM highway route (passing through Anantapur, Dhone, Kurnool, and Jadcherla) and a 515.8 KM railway route (passing through Gooty Junction, Dharmavaram Junction, and others).
* **Technologies Tested:** The tests monitored 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G networks using live data and voice sessions established via multiple advanced handsets.
* **Assessment Parameters:** Key metrics included Coverage Gap (signal strength thresholds), Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR), Drop Call Rate (DCR), Call Silence Instances (> 3 seconds), and Data Throughput (Download/Upload).
**Performance on Hindupur to Hyderabad Highway**
* **Coverage and Signal:** BSNL recorded the highest number of poor signal samples (7,003) and samples with no coverage (94). Airtel and RJIL recorded zero samples with "No Coverage."
* **Voice Quality:** BSNL experienced the highest call drop rate (15 dropped calls out of 169), while Airtel and RJIL recorded zero dropped calls.
* **Data Speeds:** RJIL delivered the highest average download throughput at 244.03 Mbps. Airtel followed at 109.79 Mbps, while BSNL recorded the lowest at 10.96 Mbps.
**Performance on Hyderabad to Hindupur Railway Route**
* **Coverage Gaps:** Significant signal issues were observed on the rail route; BSNL had 8,305 samples of poor signal and 463 samples with no coverage.
* **Voice Reliability:** BSNL recorded 28 dropped calls out of 134 established calls. Airtel maintained a 0% drop rate.
* **Data Performance:** RJIL achieved the highest average download speed (119.61 Mbps), significantly outperforming BSNL (10.61 Mbps) and VIL (19.87 Mbps).
**General Observations**
* Signal strength is categorized as "poor" if it falls below -110 dBm for 5G/4G, -90 dBm for 3G, and -85 dBm for 2G.
* Detailed maps and Annexures identify specific geographic "red dots" where call drops and silence instances occurred for each provider.
**Impact Analysis**
**Telecom Service Providers (Airtel, BSNL, RJIL, VIL)**
**Impact**
The report publicly highlights specific technical failures, coverage gaps, and performance lagging behind declared typical speeds.
**Action Required**
TSPs must review the shared findings and take "further necessary action" to optimize network parameters and infrastructure along the tested routes.
**General Telecom Consumers**
**Impact**
Consumers receive verified, real-time data regarding which service providers offer the most reliable voice and data connections on these specific transit routes.
**Action Required**
Consumers are encouraged to use the published IDT findings to make informed choices regarding their service provider based on their travel needs.
**Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI)**
**Impact**
The IDT serves as a regulatory tool to monitor Quality of Service (QoS) compliance and pressure providers to maintain standards.
**Action Required**
TRAI Regional Office Hyderabad will continue to supervise these tests and provide clarifications to stakeholders via established contact channels.
Ministry of Communications
TRAI Assesses Mobile Network Quality Across
Hindupur to Hyderabad Highway Route and
Hyderabad to Hindupur Railway Route
प्रव तथ: 02 JUL 2026 6:21PM by PIB Delhi
TRAI Assesses Mobile Network Quality Across Highway Route- Hindupur to Hyderabad passing through
Anantapur, Dhone, Kurnool and Jadcherla etc.
Railway Route- Hyderabad to Hindupur passing through Jadcherla, Kurnool Town, Dhone Junction, Gooty
Junction, Anantapur and Dharmavaram Junction etc.
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released findings of Independent Drive Test (IDT)
conducted across Rail Hyderabad to Hindupur and Highway Hindupur to Hyderabad under AP LSA,
during the month of April 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 Highway - 473.7 KMs and Railway –
515.8 Kms, Hindupur to Hyderabad - Highway and Hyderabad to Hindupur - Railway from 20th April
2026 to 21st April 2026 in Andhra Pradesh 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
Highway and Railway as per the legends shown on the map:-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 Servies: Download/ Upload Throughput, Latency, Jitter, Packet Drop Rate
The overall mobile network performance in Hyderabad for the key parameters has been summarised
below:-
Hindupur to Hyderabad Highway:
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 427/33655 for Airtel, 7003/32128 for
BSNL, 751/33289 for RJIL and 4021/33216 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 0/33655 for Airtel, 94/32128 for BSNL,
0/33289 for RJIL and 35/33216 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 0/169 for Airtel, 15/169 for BSNL, 0/169 for
RJIL and 6/170 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 7/165 for Airtel,
13/148 for BSNL 4/167 RJIL and 12/167 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
109.79 Mbps for Airtel (5G/4G), 10.96 Mbps for BSNL (3G), 244.03 Mbps for RJIL
(5G/4G) and 22.62 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 22.50
Mbps for Airtel (5G/4G), 4.0 Mbps for BSNL (3G), 18.02 Mbps for RJIL (5G/4G) and
7.49 Mbps for VIL (5G/4G/2G). Detail of Upload throughput has been provided in the
map Annexed.
Hyderabad to Hindupur Railway:
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 1205/25211 for Airtel, 8305/23798 for
BSNL, 1318/25056 for RJIL and 3311/24771 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 5/25211 for Airtel, 463/23798 for BSNL,
83/25056 for RJIL and 190/24771 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 0/126 for Airtel, 28/134 for BSNL, 2/127 for
RJIL and 8/126 for VIL. Details of the dropped call locations have been provided in the map
Annexed.
c) Data Download and Upload Throughput:
i) Data Download performance (Overall): Average download speed was observed as
25.16 Mbps for Airtel (5G/4G), 10.61 Mbps for BSNL (3G), 119.61 Mbps for RJIL
(5G/4G) and 19.87 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 9.38
Mbps for Airtel (5G/4G), 6.02 Mbps for BSNL (3G), 10.41 Mbps for RJIL (5G/4G) and
9.69 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:-
a. Highway- Hindupur to Hyderabad passing through Anantapur, Dhone, Kurnool and Jadcherla etc.
b. Railway- Hyderabad to Hindupur passing through Jadcherla, Kurnool Town, Dhone Junction, Gooty
Junction, Anantapura and Dharmavaram Junction etc.
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.
ANNEXURE
1. Hindupur to Hyderabad Highway:
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 33655 32128 33289 33216Number of Samples having poor signal strength 427 7003 751 4021
Number of Samples having limited service (No Coverage) 0 94 0 35
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 observedNote: Plot is based on Dynamic Drive Test results only.
b) 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 169 169 169 170
Number of dropped Calls 0 15 0 6
Locations of Dropped CallsBSNL
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 map.
c) 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 165 148 167 167
(within service provider network)
Number of silences calls for >3 Sec 5 10 3 7
Total number of silence instances for >3 Sec 7 13 4 12Locations of Call Silence Instance
AIRTEL BSNLRJIL VILNote: Call silence instances are shown in red colour and which can be clicked to know the exact
location (latitude and longitude) on the map.
d) 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
Parameter Measured AIRTEL BSNL RJIL VIL
in
(upto 5G) (upto 4G) (upto 5G) (upto 5G)
Typical Download throughput (Mbits/s) 16.91 3.00 15.00 15.00
declared by TSP
Average Download Throughput (Mbits/s) 109.79 10.96 244.03 22.62
measured during IDTAIRTEL BSNL
RJIL VILNote: Plot is based on Dynamic Drive Test results only.
(ii) Upload Throughput
Parameter Measured AIRTEL BSNL RJIL VIL
in
(upto 5G) (upto 4G) (upto 5G) (upto 5G)
Typical upload throughput (Mbits/s) 4.98 3.00 7.00 8.00
declared by TSP
Average Upload Throughput (Mbits/s) 22.50 4.00 18.02 7.49
measured during IDT
AIRTEL BSNLRJIL VIL
Note: Plot is based on Dynamic Drive Test results only.
2. Hyderabad to Hindupur Railway: -
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 25211 23798 25056 24771
Number of Samples having poor signal strength 1205 8305 1318 3311
Number of Samples having limited service (No Coverage) 5 463 83 190
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 observedAIRTEL BSNLVIL
RJIL
Note: Plot is based on Dynamic Drive Test results only.b) 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 126 134 127 126
Number of dropped Calls 0 28 2 8
Locations of Dropped Calls
BSNL
RJILVIL
Note: Dropped calls locations are shown in red colour and which can be clicked to know the exact
location (latitude and longitude) on the map.
c) 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
Parameter Measured AIRTEL BSNL RJIL VIL
in
(upto 5G) (upto 4G) (upto 5G) (upto 5G)
Typical Download throughput (Mbits/s) 16.91 3.00 15.00 15.00
declared by TSP
Average Download Throughput (Mbits/s) 25.60 10.61 119.61 19.87
measured during IDTAIRTEL BSNLRJIL VIL
Note: Plot is based on Dynamic Drive Test results only.
(ii) Upload Throughput
Parameter Measured AIRTEL BSNL RJIL VIL
in
(upto 5G) (upto 4G) (upto 5G) (upto 5G)
Typical upload throughput (Mbits/s) 4.98 3.00 7.00 8.00
declared by TSP
Average Upload Throughput (Mbits/s) 9.38 6.02 10.41 9.69
measured during IDTAIRTEL
BSNLRJIL VIL
Note: Plot is based on Dynamic Drive Test results only.
***
NJ/ARJ
(रलीज़ आईडी: 2280453) आगंतुक पटल : 90
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