New Delhi [India], January 11 (ANI): The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the findings of its Independent Drive Tests (IDT) conducted in four cities–New Delhi, Jaipur, Ahmednagar, and Hyderabad–during September to October 2024.
According to the Ministry of Communications, the tests were conducted through an empanelled agency to assess the quality of voice and data services provided by cellular mobile telephone service providers in these regions.
The tests focused on major telecom players including Bharti Airtel Ltd., BSNL/MTNL, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd. (RJIL), and Vodafone Idea Ltd. (VIL). These tests evaluated key performance indicators (KPIs) such as voice call setup success rate, call drop rate (DCR), speech quality, data throughput, and other relevant metrics.
In New Delhi, the tests covered a distance of 635 kilometres within the city and 210 kilometres of metro routes. The voice service results revealed that RJIL recorded a lower call setup success rate (94.00 per cent) compared to Airtel, MTNL, and VIL, all of which had success rates above 97 per cent.
The call setup time also varied significantly, with MTNL having the longest setup time at 3.27 seconds, while RJIL and Airtel had quicker times of 0.73 seconds and 0.82 seconds, respectively.
Call drop rates for MTNL were found to be higher at 7.23 per cent, while the other providers, including RJIL, had rates below 0.25 per cent. In terms of call silence, RJIL and VIL had a higher rate of mute calls, recorded at 3.01 per cent and 2.34 per cent respectively, compared to Airtel’s low rate of 0.55 per cent.
Additionally, the Mean Opinion Score (MOS) for speech quality indicated a better performance for Airtel and VIL, with scores above 4, while RJIL and MTNL scored below 4.
The data performance in New Delhi showed a stark contrast, with RJIL recording an average download speed of 231.82 Mbps, leading the pack, followed by Airtel at 171.44 Mbps. MTNL and VIL, relying on older 3G and 4G networks, reported much lower speeds, with MTNL at 3.71 Mbps and VIL at 14.45 Mbps.
Similarly, in upload speeds, RJIL and Airtel outperformed their competitors with speeds of 23.91 Mbps and 34.37 Mbps, respectively, while MTNL and VIL had considerably lower upload speeds.
In Jaipur, the voice call setup success rate for RJIL and VIL was 100 per cent, outperforming Airtel and BSNL, which had success rates of 99.90 per cent and 98.92 per cent, respectively. Call setup times were significantly quicker for RJIL and VIL at 0.69 and 0.39 seconds, compared to BSNL’s 3.33 seconds.
Call drop rates were lower across the board, with BSNL showing a higher drop rate of 2.48 per cent. In terms of call silence, RJIL recorded a 0.12 per cent mute rate, better than VIL and Airtel, which had 0.24 per cent each. The MOS scores for speech quality were highest for VIL (4.63) and Airtel (4.02), while RJIL scored 3.96 and BSNL was the lowest at 2.18.
In the data performance category, RJIL again led with an impressive average download speed of 356.68 Mbps, while Airtel’s average was 216.93 Mbps. BSNL and VIL, relying more on 3G and 4G, had significantly slower download speeds of 3.12 Mbps and 32.40 Mbps, respectively.
Similar trends were observed in upload speeds, with RJIL and Airtel leading the pack at 46.17 Mbps and 44.83 Mbps, respectively, compared to BSNL and VIL, which had much lower speeds.
In Hyderabad, RJIL again topped the charts with a 100 per cent call setup success rate, while Airtel and BSNL had slightly lower rates of 99.85 per cent and 98.92 per cent. Call setup times were quickest for RJIL at 0.75 seconds, while VIL had the longest time at 11.82 seconds.
The call drop rates for RJIL, Airtel, and VIL were virtually zero, whereas BSNL had a higher rate of 3.76 per cent. The call silence rates for RJIL and VIL were relatively high at 2.08 per cent and 2.06 per cent, while Airtel recorded a lower mute rate of 1.12 per cent. In terms of speech quality, Airtel (3.98), RJIL (3.81), and VIL (3.72) all had MOS scores below 4, with BSNL having the lowest score at 2.66.
In terms of data performance, RJIL led with an average download speed of 164.19 Mbps, followed by Airtel at 119.88 Mbps. BSNL and VIL had slower speeds, with BSNL recording just 1.28 Mbps for downloads. In upload performance, RJIL also outperformed the others with an average speed of 20.43 Mbps.
Lastly, in Ahmednagar, Airtel was the only provider with a 100 per cent call setup success rate, followed by RJIL at 99.70 per cent. VIL and BSNL had lower success rates of 88.24 per cent and 94.41 per cent, respectively.
The call setup times for Airtel and RJIL were the fastest at 0.60 seconds and 0.80 seconds, while BSNL and VIL took longer at 2.49 and 1.13 seconds. Call drop rates were almost negligible for Airtel and RJIL, with VIL and BSNL showing higher rates of 0.31 per cent and 7.11 per cent, respectively. The call silence rate for BSNL was the highest at 2.77 per cent, while Airtel recorded the lowest at 0.23 per cent.
Regarding data speeds, RJIL had a strong performance with an average download speed of 251.13 Mbps, while Airtel had a download speed of 135.59 Mbps. VIL and BSNL again lagged behind with speeds of 44.20 Mbps and 2.08 Mbps, respectively.
In upload performance, RJIL and Airtel maintained their dominance with speeds of 31.52 Mbps and 23.06 Mbps, while BSNL and VIL had slower upload speeds of 1.65 Mbps and 14.09 Mbps. (ANI)
