**Executive Summary**
This report details the Independent Drive Test (IDT) findings by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) on network quality in Samastipur district, Bihar, conducted in January 2026. The tests assessed voice and data services across 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G technologies. The findings have been shared with all concerned Telecom Service Providers (TSPs).
**Key Points / Main Content**
* **Scope of Testing:**
* Drive tests covered extensive city routes, 10 hotspot locations, and a walk test in Samastipur district.
* Technologies evaluated included 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G.
* **Parameters Assessed:**
* **Voice Services:** Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR), Drop Call Rate (DCR), Call Setup Time, Call Silence Rate, Speech Quality (MOS), and Coverage.
* **Data Services:** Download/Upload Throughput, Latency, Jitter, Packet Drop Rate, and Video Streaming Delay.
* **Key Findings - Voice Services:**
* **Call Setup Success Rate (Auto-selection mode):** Airtel (100.00%), RJIL (99.76%), VIL (98.82%), BSNL (36.89%).
* **Drop Call Rate (Auto-selection mode):** Airtel (0.00%), RJIL (0.24%), VIL (1.67%), BSNL (10.04%).
* **Call Setup Time (Auto-selection mode):** RJIL (0.65s), VIL (1.01s), Airtel (1.70s), BSNL (4.77s).
* **Call Silence/Mute Rate (Packet Switched Network):** RJIL (0.00%), Airtel (0.34%), VIL (4.56%), BSNL (1.89%).
* **Mean Opinion Score (MOS):** RJIL (4.52), VIL (4.58), Airtel (3.98), BSNL (2.78).
* **Key Findings - Data Services:**
* **Overall Download Speed:** RJIL (158.64 Mbps), Airtel (101.10 Mbps), VIL (27.24 Mbps), BSNL (12.13 Mbps).
* **Overall Upload Speed:** Airtel (21.39 Mbps), RJIL (18.55 Mbps), VIL (11.98 Mbps), BSNL (4.18 Mbps).
* **Latency (50th Percentile):** RJIL (32.38 ms), VIL (43.24 ms), BSNL (52.56 ms), Airtel (59.13 ms).
* **Signal Strength Observation:**
* Poor signal strength in auto-selection mode was observed for BSNL (51.32% during voice, 37.25% during data testing).
* **Areas Assessed:**
* The assessment included various city routes, institutional hotspots, secretariats, residential areas, railway stations, bus stands, colleges, courts, and hospitals within Samastipur district.
* **Availability of Full Report:**
* The detailed report is available on the TRAI website (www.trai.gov.in).
* **Contact Information:**
* For clarification or information, Shri Kaushik Mukherjee, Advisor (Regional Office, Kolkata) TRAI can be contacted via email (adv.kolkata@trai.gov.in) or phone (+91-33-22361401).
**Impact Analysis**
* **Telecom Service Providers (TSPs) - Airtel, BSNL, RJIL, VIL:**
* **Impact:** The findings highlight performance variations across different service providers in terms of call setup success, drop rates, data speeds, and latency. Specific TSPs are identified with areas of strength and weakness.
* **Action Required:** TSPs need to review their network performance data against the reported findings and take corrective actions to improve service quality, particularly BSNL in areas of poor signal strength and call setup success rate.
* **Consumers in Samastipur District:**
* **Impact:** Consumers will be indirectly impacted by the network quality assessment, which could lead to service improvements or continued performance issues depending on TSP actions.
* **Action Required:** Consumers can refer to the detailed report for an understanding of the network performance of different providers in their area.
* **TRAI:**
* **Impact:** The IDT findings serve as a basis for TRAI's oversight and potential regulatory interventions to ensure quality of service standards are met.
* **Action Required:** TRAI has already intimated the findings to the TSPs and may use this data for future regulatory actions or consumer guidance.
Key Entities Referenced
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI): The regulatory body that conducted the network quality assessment and released the findings.
Samastipur district: The specific geographical location in the State of Bihar where the network quality assessment was conducted.
Bihar Licensed Service Area (LSA): The regulatory area under which Samastipur district falls and for which the assessment was performed.
Independent Drive Test (IDT): The specific type of test conducted by TRAI to assess mobile network performance.
State of Bihar: The larger administrative region encompassing Samastipur district.
Ministry of Communications
TRAI Assesses Network Quality Across Samastipur
district in the State of Bihar under Bihar Licensed
Service Area (LSA)
Posted On: 02 MAR 2026 2:23PM by PIB Delhi
The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released its Independent Drive Test (IDT) findings for
the Bihar LSA, covering extensive city routes of Samastipur district in the State of Bihar in the month of
January 2026. The drive tests, conducted under the supervision of the TRAI Regional Office, Kolkata,
were designed to capture real-world mobile network performance across diverse usage environments-
Institutional Hotspots, secretariat areas, residential areas etc.
Between 20th January 2026 and 23rd January 2026, TRAI teams conduced detailed tests across city
routes of Samastipur district in the State of Bihar in Bihar LSA covering 272.2 Km of city drive test, 10
Hotspot locations, and 1.9 Km of walk test. Technologies evaluated included 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G,
reflecting the service experience of users across multiple handset capabilities. The findings of the IDT
have already been intimated to all the TSPs concerned.
Key Parameters Assessed:
a) Voice Services: Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR), Drop Call Rate (DCR), Call Setup Time, Call
Silence Rate, Speech Quality (MOS), Coverage.
b) Data Services: Download/Upload Throughput, Latency, Jitter, Packet Drop Rate, and Video
Streaming Delay.
The overall mobile network performance in city routes of Samastipur district in the State of Bihar in Bihar
LSA is summarized below:
Call Setup Success Rate- Airtel, BSNL, RJIL and VIL have call setup success rate of 100.00%, 36.89%,
99.76% and 98.82% respectively in Auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G).
Drop Call Rate Airtel, BSNL, RJIL and VIL have drop call rate of 0.00%, 10.04%, 0.24% and 1.67%
respectively in Auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G).
5G Data Services delivered maximum average download speed of 158.64 Mbps and maximum average
upload speed of 21.39 Mbps in the overall city drive test.
The poor Signal Strength in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G) has been observed for 3.42%, 51.32%,
2.20% & 7.10% of the total IDT route during voice testing in city drive in case of Airtel, BSNL, RJIL &
VIL respectively. The same, during data testing in city drive was observed for 16.52%, 37.25%, 13.10%
& 11.92% in case of Airtel, BSNL, RJIL & VIL respectively.
In Samastipur district, the assessment included the areas of Musrigharari, Sarairanjan, Patori,
Mohiuddinagar, Sahit, Dalsinghsarai, Satanpur, Barbatta, Tajpur, Pusa, Saidpur, Kalyanpur, Basudeopur,
Satmalpur, Khanpur, Ballipur, Singhia ii, Lagma, Deodha, Rosera, Belsandi Tara and Mohanpur etc.TRAI also evaluated real-world conditions at (i) Dalsingh Sarai Railway Station; (ii) District Court,
Samastipur; (iii) Government Bus Stand Uttarayan Samastipur; (iv) Government Engineering College
(GEC) Samastipur; (v) Govt. ITI Samastipur Mordewa; (vi) Head Post Office Sakra Bazar Uttarayan
Samastipur; (vii) Subdivisional Civil Court Dalsinghsarai; (viii) Sub-Divisional Hospital Rosera Sahiar
Dih; (ix) UR College Jarahi Khaira; (x) V2 Mall 08 Tajpur Rd Professor Colony Kashipur Samastipur;
through static testing and
at (i) Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agriculture University Pusa; (ii) Samastipur Junction Railway Station
through walk-test.
Performance against key QoS parameters:
Summary-Voice services
Call Setup Success Rate: Airtel, BSNL, RJIL and VIL have call setup success rate of 100.00%,
36.89%, 99.76% and 98.82% respectively in Auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G).
Call Setup Time: Airtel, BSNL, RJIL and VIL have call setup time of 1.70, 4.77, 0.65 and 1.01
seconds respectively in Auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G).
Drop Call Rate: Airtel, BSNL, RJIL and VIL have drop call rate of 0.00%, 10.04%, 0.24% and 1.67%
respectively in Auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G).
Call Silence/Mute Rate: Airtel, BSNL, RJIL and VIL have silence call rate of 0.34%, 1.89%, 0.00%
and 4.56% respectively in packet switched network (5G/4G).
Mean Opinion Score (MOS): Airtel, BSNL, RJIL and VIL have Average MOS of 3.98, 2.78, 4.52 and
4.58 respectively.
Summary-Data services
Data Download performance (Overall): Average download speed of Airtel (5G/4G/2G) is 101.10
Mbps, BSNL (4G/3G/2G) is 12.13 Mbps, RJIL (5G/4G) is 158.64 Mbps and VIL (4G/2G) is 27.24
Mbps.
Data Upload performance (Overall): Average upload speed of Airtel (5G/4G/2G) is 21.39 Mbps,
BSNL (4G/3G/2G) is 4.18 Mbps, RJIL (5G/4G) is 18.55 Mbps and VIL (4G/2G) is 11.98 Mbps.
Latency (Overall): Airtel, BSNL, RJIL & VIL 50th percentile latency is 59.13 ms, 52.56 ms, 32.38 ms,
43.24 ms respectively.
Data performance - Hotspots (in Mbps):
Airtel- 4G D/L: 45.48 4G U/L: 9.88
5G D/L: 111.62 5G U/L: 28.97
BSNL- 4G D/L: 7.78 4G U/L: 7.32
RJIL- 4G D/L: 42.42 4G U/L: 7.77
5G D/L: 131.06 5G U/L: 16.51
VIL- 4G D/L: 21.01 4G U/L: 11.03
Note- “D/L” Download speed, “U/L” Upload speedCSSR: Call Setup Success Rate (in %), CST: Call Setup Time (in seconds), DCR: Drop Call Rate (in %)
& MOS: Mean Opinion Score
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 Kaushik Mukherjee, Advisor (Regional Office, Kolkata) TRAI may be
contacted on email: adv.kolkata@trai.gov.in or at Tel. No. +91-33-22361401.
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