TRAI Assesses Mobile Network Quality across parts of Kolkata city, Howrah and Hooghly Districts under Kolkata LSA in the state of West Bengal.

Information Note to the Press (Press Release No. 137 /2026) TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA www.trai.gov.in New Delhi, 15 October 2026 For Immediate Release TRAI Assesses Mobile Network Quality across parts of Kolkata city, Howrah and Hooghly Districts under Kolkata LSA in the state of West Bengal.

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released findings of Independent Drive Test

(IDT) conducted across parts of Kolkata city, Howrah and Hooghly Districts under Kolkata LSA, during the month of July 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 – 309.7 KMs, Hotspot locations - 10, Walk Test – 2.8 KMs in Kolkata LSA during 13th July 2026 to 16th July 2026 in Kolkata 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 parts of Kolkata city, Howrah and Hooghly Districts under

Kolkata LSA 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 122/ 65638 for Airtel, 3904/ 64760 for BSNL, 181/ 65280 for RJIL and 401/ 65726 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 1/ 466 for Airtel, 15/ 483 for BSNL, 0/ 468 for RJIL and 2/ 462 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 6/ 454 for Airtel, 36/ 458 for BSNL, 5/ 455 for RJIL and 39/ 467 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 255.13 Mbps for Airtel (5G/4G), 7.98 Mbps for BSNL (4G/2G), 297.95 Mbps for RJIL (5G/4G) and

49.06 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 45.64 Mbps for Airtel (5G/4G), 4.35 Mbps for BSNL (4G/ 2G), 38.63 Mbps for RJIL (5G/4G) and 12.31 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 Adisaptagram, Chinsurah, Bhadreswar, Serampore, Uttarpara, Bally, Howrah, Shibpur, Radhadasi, Nalpur, Chengail, Panchla, Alampur, Santragachi, Old Jagacha, Belgachia, Bhatta Nagar, Dankuni, Bankagachha and Singur etc.

b) Hotspot - The hot spot locations, capturing stationary user experience, are (i) Bandel Thermal Power Station (BTPS) - Masterpara - Tribeni – Bandapara; (ii) Dhulagarh Crossing - Dhulagori - Howrah - Jala Dhulagiri; (iii) Hooghly Cochin Shipyard Limited - 131/1 Satyen Bose Rd - Nazirganj – Howrah; (iv) Hooghly Institute of Technology - Vivekananda Rd - Chinsurah R S – Chinsurah; (v) Hooghly Mohsin College - Bhanumati Road - P.O. Chinsurah; (vi) Imambara District Hospital - Hospital Road - Naihati – Chinsurah; (vii) Nabanna State Secretariat - HRBC Building - 325 Sarat Chatterjee Rd – Shibpur;

(viii) Serampore Head Post Office - Panchu Gopal Bhaduri Sarani - Tin Bazar – Serampore; (ix) Sheoraphuli Ferry Ghat - Sarat Chandra Mukherjee Rd - Sheoraphuli – Baidyabati; (x) Uluberia Subdivision Court - Orisha Trunk Rd - Kalibari - Uluberia – Howrah.

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2c) Walk Test - The walk tests conducted during 13th to 14th July 2026, are (i) Howrah Station New Complex - Howrah Railway Station; (ii) Santragachi Jn. - Santragachi Station Rd - Santragachi – Howrah; (iii) Uluberia Super Spacility Hospital - Bazarpara - Uluberia – Howrah, , capturing mobile network behaviour in crowded pedestrian environments.

8. 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.kolkata@trai.gov.in or Regional Office of TRAI at Kolkata RO can be contacted on telephone no. +91-33-22361401.

Kaushik Mukherjee Advisor, RO Kolkata 3Annexure

1. Parts of Kolkata City, Howrah and Hooghly Districts under Kolkata LSA (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 65638 64760 65280 65726 route Number of Samples having poor signal strength 122 3904 181 401 Number of Samples having Limited Service (No 0 178 0 36 Coverage)

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 RTEL BSNL RJIL VIL

Note: Plot is based on Dynamic Drive Test results only.

4b) 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 466 483 468 462 Number of dropped Calls 1 15 0 2 Locations of Dropped Calls AIRTEL BSN L 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.

5c) 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 454 458 455 467 (within service provider network) Number of silences calls for >3 Sec 4 26 4 24 Total number of silence instances for >3 Sec 6 36 5 39 Locations of Call Silence Instance AIRTEL 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.

6d) 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 Measured AIRTEL BSNL RJIL VIL Parameter in (upto 5G) (upto 4G) (upto 5G) (upto 5G) Typical Download Throughput (Mbits/s) 23.00 5.03 15.00 15.00 declared by TSP Average Download Throughput measured during (Mbits/s) 255.13 7.98 297.95 49.06 IDT AIRTEL BSNL RJIL VIL

Note: Plot is based on Dynamic Drive Test results only.

7(ii) Upload Throughput Measured AIRTEL BSNL RJIL VIL Parameter in (upto 5G) (upto 4G) (upto 5G) (upto 4G) Typical upload throughput (Mbits/s) 8.00 3.00 7.00 8.00 declared by TSP Average Upload Throughput (Mbits/s) 18.05 5.23 15.59 11.77 m easured during IDT AIRTEL BSNL RJ IL VIL

Note: Plot is based on Dynamic Drive Test results only.

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