TRAI releases Hyderabad mobile network performance assessment

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the findings of an Independent Drive Test (IDT) conducted across Hyderabad in May 2026, highlighting the performance of mobile operators on key quality-of-service parameters such as network coverage, call drops and data speeds.

The drive tests, conducted between May 14 and 16, covered 157.9 km of city routes, 12 hotspot locations, and 3.1 km of walk-test areas across Hyderabad, including Madhapur, Ameerpet, Shamshabad, Hitec City, IKEA, Lingampally Railway Station and KIMS Hospital.

According to the report, Reliance Jio delivered the highest average download speed at 222.12 Mbps, followed by Bharti Airtel at 66.32 Mbps and Vodafone Idea (Vi) at 59.61 Mbps. BSNL recorded an average download speed of 5.55 Mbps.

In terms of upload speeds, Airtel topped the chart with 24.54 Mbps, followed by Jio at 19.43 Mbps, Vi at 13.17 Mbps, and BSNL at 2.54 Mbps.

The regulator found zero dropped calls for Airtel, Jio and Vi during the tests, while BSNL recorded eight dropped calls out of 197 successfully established calls. Jio also reported no call silence instances, compared with two each for Airtel and Vi and 10 for BSNL.

Coverage assessments showed BSNL lagging behind rivals, with 3,763 instances of poor signal strength and 44 no-coverage samples during testing. Airtel, Jio and Vi recorded significantly fewer coverage gaps and no no-coverage instances.

TRAI said the findings have been shared with the telecom service providers for corrective action and service improvement. The tests were conducted under the supervision of the regulator’s Hyderabad regional office to assess real-world network performance across voice and data services.

CT Bureau