TRAI assesses mobile networks in Hamirpur, Bilaspur

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the findings of an Independent Drive Test (IDT) conducted across Hamirpur, Bilaspur and surrounding areas in Himachal Pradesh, showing Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel outperforming rivals on key mobile network quality parameters.

The tests, carried out between May 12 and May 16, 2026, covered 168 km of railway routes, 119 km of highways, 290.6 km of city roads, eight hotspot locations and walk-test zones. The exercise assessed network coverage, call drops, call setup success rates, download and upload speeds, latency and other quality-of-service metrics across 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G networks.

In Hamirpur and nearby areas, Jio recorded the lowest coverage gap at 272 poor-signal samples out of 15,571 observations, followed by Airtel with 479. BSNL and Vodafone Idea (Vi) registered significantly higher coverage gaps of 2,232 and 2,401 samples respectively. Jio and Airtel also reported zero dropped calls during the tests, while BSNL recorded 18 dropped calls and Vi one.

Jio delivered the highest average download speed in the Hamirpur region at 243.12 Mbps, followed by Airtel at 171.15 Mbps. BSNL and Vi recorded average download speeds of 11.29 Mbps and 13.51 Mbps respectively.

A similar trend was observed in Bilaspur, where Jio posted the lowest coverage gap and the fastest average download speed of 172.19 Mbps. Airtel followed with 87.49 Mbps, while BSNL and Vi recorded 6.92 Mbps and 13.62 Mbps respectively.

On highway stretches between Amb-Hamirpur and Hamirpur-Bilaspur, Jio consistently delivered the highest download speeds, touching 250.71 Mbps and 221.34 Mbps respectively. Airtel remained the second-best performer, while BSNL and Vi lagged behind in both coverage and data throughput.

The railway route from Chandigarh to Amb also saw Jio leading with average download speeds of 195.53 Mbps, followed by Airtel at 165.09 Mbps. Vi and BSNL recorded 27.16 Mbps and 12.77 Mbps respectively.

TRAI said the drive tests were conducted to independently verify the real-time quality of mobile services and provide consumers with transparent information on operator performance. The regulator noted that the results represent network conditions at the specific locations and times when the tests were conducted and are intended to encourage telecom operators to improve service quality.
CT Bureau