TRAI Assesses Network Quality Across Puducherry City and their adjoining areas in a Puducherry Union Territory (under Tamil Nadu LSA)

Information Note to the Press (Press Release No. 35 / 2026) TELECOM REGULATORY AUTHORITY OF INDIA https://www.trai.gov. in New Delhi, 09-03-2026 For Immediate Release TRAI Assesses Network Quality Across Puducherry City and their adjoining areas in a Puducherry Union Territory (under Tamil Nadu Licensed Service Area) The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released its Independent Drive Test (IDT) findings for the Tamil Nadu Licensed Service Area (LSA), covering extensive city of Puducherry surrounding areas in the month of February 2026. The drive tests conducted under the supervision of the TRAI Regional Office, Hyderabad, were designed to capture real world mobile network performance across diverse usage environments- Urban Zones, Institutional Hotspots, rural residential areas etc. Between 5th February 2026 to 7th February 2026, TRAI teams conducted detailed tests for 313.2 Kms Puducherry City drive test and 8 Hotspot locations. Technologies evaluated included 2G, 3G, 4G, and SG, reflecting the service experience of users across multiple handset capabilities. The findings of the IDT have been intimated to all the TSPs concerned. Key Parameters Assessed: a) Voice Services: Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR), Drop Call Rate (OCR), Call Setup Time, Call Silence Rate, Speech Quality (MOS), Coverage. The overall mobile network performance in Puducherry city is summarized below: Call Setup Success Rate: Airtel, BSNL, RJIL and VIL have 100.00%, 90.91 %, 98.84% and 99.61 % call setup success rate respectively in Auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). b) Data Services: Download/Upload Throughput, Latency, Jitter, Packet Drop Rate, and Video Streaming Delay. Average download speed of Airtel (5G/4G/2G) is 163.82 Mbps, BSNL (4G/3G/2G) is 12.71 Mbps, RJIL (5G/4G) is 253.84 Mbps and VIL (4G/2G) is 22.05 Mbps. CSSR: Call Setup Success Rate (in%), CST: Call Setup Time (in seconds), OCR: Drop Call Rate (in%) & MOS: Mean Opinion Score. AAtdcm e .,. CST ... oc ·• ·- Muttc.l •tl MOS A\lg. De own~ S pMd IMbP') AlA rva. tUp dlOMt e )pn d (Mbp\I Uittl'ICV·~ ~r<tntUt lrnt) I 071 Aiftt4 Vil O.B" 21;) e RJll0 RJIL RJll • Vil Airtel II~ Vll o.oox Airt-4 024% Vil .,,..,~ RJtl 1~ Vil ~ 0 ~e 1 Vil 1~ Riil ""' "' Riii ""' "" JIJ~l0 VR 21I 0t 5 VII 13~ -~0 ·~e 1 0 ;) • ' "''" ·~d ·~" d OSNL OSNL 12.71 esta ~.11 BSNl~Summary-Voice services Summary-Data services Call Setup Success Rate: Airtel, BSNL, RJIL and VIL Data Download performance (Overall): Average have I 00.00%, 90.91 %, 98.84% and 99 .61% call download speed of Airtel (5G/4G/2G) is 163.82 Mbps, setup success rate respectively in Auto-selection mode BSNL (4G/3G/2G) is 12.71 Mbps, RJlL (5G/4G) is (5G/4G/3G/2G). 253.84 Mbps and VIL (4G/2G) is 22.05 Mbps. Call Setup Time: Airtel, BSNL, RJIL and VIL have call Data Upload performance (Overall): Average upload setup time of 1.15, 4.50, 0.71 and 1.86 seconds speed of Airtel (5G/4G/2G) is 27.94 Mbps, BSNL respectively in Auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). (4G/3G/2G) is 5.11 Mbps, RJIL (5G/4G) is 16.92 Mbps and VIL (4G/2G) is 13.03 Mbps. Drop Call Rate: Airtel, BSNL, RJIL and VIL have drop call rate of 0.00%, 1.46%, 0.39% and 0.00% Latency (Overall): Airtel, BSNL, RJIL and VIL 50th respectively in Auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G). percentile latency is 41.50 ms, 42.47 ms, 25.94 ms & 32.81 ms respectively. Call Silence/Mute Rate: Airtel, BSNL, RJlL and VIL have silence call rate of 0.24%, 4.16%, 0.96% and Data performance - Hotspots (in Mbps): 0.23% respectively in packet switched network Airtel-4G D/L: 33.84 4G U/L: 11.67 (4G/5G). 5G D/L: 230.03 5G U/L: 51.54 Mean Opinion Score (MOS): Airtel, BSNL, RJIL and VIL have average MOS of 4.00, 3.0 I, 4.45 and 4.42 BSNL-4G D/L: 6.97 4G U/L: 6.90 respectively. RJIL- 4G D/L: 42.08 4G U/L: 7.98 The Poor signal strength in auto-selection mode 5G D/L: 259.37 5G U/L: 13.03 (5G/4G/3G/2G) during voice testing has been observed VIL- 4G D/L: 17.76 4G U/L: 13.46 in 1.17%, 6.93%, 2.42% & 1.60% of the City IDT route in case of Airtel, BSNL, RJIL and VIL respectively. Note-"D/L" Download speed, "U/L" Upload speed The Poor signal strength in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G) during data testing has been observed in 9.07%, 12.16%, 15.35%&6.53%oftheCityIDTroutein case of Airtel, BSNL, RJlL and VIL respectively. In Puducherry City, the assessment included the areas nearby Semmangalam, Sedarapet, Villianur, Lawspet, White Town, Muthialpet, Murungapakkam, Ariyankuppam, Thavalakuppam, Embalam, Bahour, Kanniakoil, Kalapet, Pillaichavady and Bommayapalayam etc. TRAI also evaluated real-world conditions at 1.Aurobindo Ashram/French Colony 2.Auroville International Society 3.JIPMER Medical College 4.Pondicherry University 5.Puducherry Airport 6.Puducherry Bus Station 7 .Puducherry Railway Station 8.Rajiv Gandhi Government Women and Children Hospital in Puducherry City to reflect stationary user experience. The tests were conducted using TRAI suggested equipment and standardised protocols in real-time environments. The detailed report is available at TRAI website www.trai.gov.in. For any clarification/information, Shri B. Praveen Kumar, Advisor (Regional Office, Hyderabad) TRAI may be contacted on email: adv.hyderabad@trai.gov.in or at Tel. No. +91-40-23000761.