TRAI Drive Test in Bihar’s Samastipur Reveals Wide Performance Gaps Among Telecom Operators

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the findings of its Independent Drive Test (IDT) conducted in January 2026 across extensive city routes of Samastipur district under the Bihar Licensed Service Area (LSA). The exercise aimed to assess real-world mobile network performance across diverse environments including institutional hotspots, residential zones, commercial hubs, and public infrastructure locations.

The findings highlight significant variations in quality of service (QoS) among telecom service providers (TSPs), particularly in voice reliability and data performance.

Scope and Methodology of Testing

Between 20 January and 23 January 2026, TRAI conducted:

• 272.2 km of city drive tests

• 10 hotspot location tests

• 1.9 km of walk tests

Technologies evaluated included 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G, reflecting the experience of users across different handset capabilities. The tests were conducted using TRAI-suggested equipment and standardized protocols under the supervision of the TRAI Regional Office, Kolkata.

The findings have been formally communicated to all concerned telecom service providers.

Voice Services Performance: Sharp Contrast Across Operators

Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR)

In auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G), the results show:

• Airtel: 100.00%

• BSNL: 36.89%

• RJIL (Reliance Jio): 99.76%

• VIL (Vodafone Idea): 98.82%

While private operators recorded near-perfect performance, BSNL's CSSR was significantly lower, indicating major call connectivity issues during testing.

Drop Call Rate (DCR)

• Airtel: 0.00%

• BSNL: 10.04%

• RJIL: 0.24%

• VIL: 1.67%

BSNL's drop call rate exceeded 10%, sharply contrasting with Airtel's zero drop call rate and Jio's minimal levels.

Call Setup Time (CST)

• Airtel: 1.70 seconds

• BSNL: 4.77 seconds

• RJIL: 0.65 seconds

• VIL: 1.01 seconds

RJIL demonstrated the fastest call setup time, while BSNL lagged significantly.

Call Silence Rate (Packet Switched – 5G/4G)

• Airtel: 0.34%

• BSNL: 1.89%

• RJIL: 0.00%

• VIL: 4.56%

Mean Opinion Score (MOS) – Speech Quality

• Airtel: 3.98

• BSNL: 2.78

• RJIL: 4.52

• VIL: 4.58

VIL and RJIL recorded superior voice clarity, while BSNL's score fell below industry comfort benchmarks.

Data Services: 5G Drives High-Speed Performance

Overall Average Download Speeds

• Airtel (5G/4G/2G): 101.10 Mbps

• BSNL (4G/3G/2G): 12.13 Mbps

• RJIL (5G/4G): 158.64 Mbps

• VIL (4G/2G): 27.24 Mbps

RJIL recorded the highest average download speed at 158.64 Mbps, reflecting strong 5G deployment in the district.

Overall Average Upload Speeds

• Airtel: 21.39 Mbps

• BSNL: 4.18 Mbps

• RJIL: 18.55 Mbps

• VIL: 11.98 Mbps

Airtel recorded the highest average upload speed.

Latency (50th Percentile)

• Airtel: 59.13 ms

• BSNL: 52.56 ms

• RJIL: 32.38 ms

• VIL: 43.24 ms

RJIL demonstrated the lowest latency, offering better performance for real-time applications.

Hotspot Data Performance (Mbps)

Airtel

• 4G: 45.48 (D/L), 9.88 (U/L)

• 5G: 111.62 (D/L), 28.97 (U/L)

BSNL

• 4G: 7.78 (D/L), 7.32 (U/L)

RJIL

• 4G: 42.42 (D/L), 7.77 (U/L)

• 5G: 131.06 (D/L), 16.51 (U/L)

VIL

• 4G: 21.01 (D/L), 11.03 (U/L)

The hotspot analysis reaffirmed RJIL's strong 5G download speeds, while Airtel led in 5G upload speeds.

Signal Strength Concerns

During voice testing in auto-selection mode, poor signal strength was observed across portions of the IDT route:

• Airtel: 3.42%

• BSNL: 51.32%

• RJIL: 2.20%

• VIL: 7.10%

For data testing, poor signal strength was recorded for:

• Airtel: 16.52%

• BSNL: 37.25%

• RJIL: 13.10%

• VIL: 11.92%

BSNL recorded the highest incidence of weak signal zones during both voice and data testing.

Geographic Coverage of Assessment

The drive test covered key areas including:

Musrigharari, Sarairanjan, Patori, Mohiuddinagar, Dalsinghsarai, Satanpur, Tajpur, Pusa, Saidpur, Kalyanpur, Rosera, Khanpur, Singhia II, Deodha, Mohanpur, among others.

Static testing was conducted at high-footfall public institutions such as:

• Dalsingh Sarai Railway Station

• District Court, Samastipur

• Government Bus Stand

• Government Engineering College

• Govt. ITI Samastipur

• Head Post Office

• Sub-Divisional Courts and Hospitals

• UR College

• V2 Mall

Walk tests were conducted at:

• Dr. Rajendra Prasad Central Agriculture University, Pusa

• Samastipur Junction Railway Station

Regulatory Oversight and Next Steps

TRAI emphasized that the tests were conducted under standardized protocols to capture real-world user experience. The detailed report is available on the TRAI website (www.trai.gov.in).

The findings underscore the growing performance gap between operators in both voice reliability and 5G data speeds in Bihar's Samastipur district. While private operators demonstrated strong 5G-driven performance, the results point to significant service quality challenges for BSNL in the tested areas.

For further clarification, Shri Kaushik Mukherjee, Advisor (Regional Office, Kolkata), TRAI, may be contacted at adv.kolkata@trai.gov.in or +91-33-22361401.