TRAI tests mobile network quality in Gonda, Bahraich, Shravasti and Balrampur

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released findings of Independent Drive Test (IDT) conducted through its appointed agency across Gonda, Bahraich, Shravasti and Balrampur City under UPE LSA, during the month of September 2026, for information of general telecom consumers. The purpose of this drive test is to assess and verify real time quality of mobile network services (both voice & data) provided by Telecom Service Providers (TSPs). The performance of TSPs for key Quality of Service (QoS) parameters, captured during IDT are published to inform Consumers and encourage TSPs to improve their services. These IDTs have been designed to capture on ground mobile network performance of all TSPs across diverse usages environment like cities, hotspots, public transport hubs, etc.

These tests were conducted under the supervision of the TRAI Regional Office Bhopal. The observations presented in drive test reports represent the performance of the TSPs on the area/ route under test on the day/ time of conducting the drive test.

The drive tests conducted across City drive – 367.7 KMs in Gonda, Bahraich, Shravasti and Balrampur and 2.7 Km walk Test in Gonda & Balrampur City and 256 KMs Highway drive from Prayagraj to Gonda and Gonda to Bahraich, from 7th September 2026 to 10th September 2026 in UPE LSA.

Drive Test Route Map: The following map provides overview of drive test routes indicating City drive, Inter-operator calling, Hotspots and Walk tests, as per the legends shown on the map: -

Key Parameters Assessed

1. Coverage Gap: Percentage of samples, for which signal strength observed less than the minimum prescribed signal strength for respective technology (2G/ 3G/ 4G/ 5G).
2. Voice Services: Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR), Drop Call Rate (DCR), Call Setup Time, Call Silence (Mute) Rate, Speech Quality (MOS).
3. Call Silence (Mute) Instance: Number of call silence (Mute) instance occurred during the calls.
4. Data Servies: Download/ Upload Throughput, Latency, Jitter, Packet Drop Rate

The overall mobile network performance in Gonda, Bahraich, Shravasti and Balrampur City & Prayagraj to Gonda & Gonda to Bahraich Highway for the key parameters has been summarised below: -

1. Coverage Gap - The signal strength observed during voice testing on the drive test route in auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G), measured as the number of samples having poor signal strength out of the total samples collected, were 818/ 19284 for Airtel, 7289/ 16823 for BSNL, 919/ 18995 for RJIL and 1775/ 19266 for VIL for Gonda City and 485/ 23477 for Airtel, 11807/ 19472 for BSNL, 1796/ 23226 for RJIL and 1369/ 23442 for VIL for Bahraich City and 114/ 8605 for Airtel, 3271/ 7994 for BSNL, 411/ 8466 for RJIL and 159/ 8666 for VIL for Balrampur City. Details of the coverage gaps have been provided in the map Annexed.
2. Dropped Calls - Dropped calls, measured as the number of dropped calls out of the number of successfully established calls, were 1/ 171 for Airtel, 23/ 162 for BSNL, 0/ 171 for RJIL and 0/ 171 for VIL for for Gonda City and 1/ 205 for Airtel, 6/ 159 for BSNL, 0/ 206 for RJIL and 1/ 205 for VIL for Bahraich City and 2/ 78 for Airtel, 2/ 72 for BSNL, 0/ 78 for RJIL and 0/ 78 for VIL for Balrampur City. Details of the dropped call locations have been provided in the map Annexed.
3. Call Silence Instance - Call silence instances, measured as the total number of silence instances observed for > 3 seconds out of the total calls established, were 2/ 161 for Airtel, 6/ 166 for RJIL and 8/ 165 for VIL for for Gonda City and 0/ 196 for Airtel, 10/ 200 for RJIL and 1/ 199 for VIL for Bahraich City and 1/ 73 for Airtel, 2/ 74 for RJIL and 0/ 73 for VIL for Balrampur City. Details of the call silence instance locations have been provided in the map Annexed.

d)    Data Download and Upload Throughput:

i)  Data Download performance (Overall): Average download speed was observed as 94.98 Mbps for Airtel (5G), 1.15 Mbps for BSNL (4G), 167.44 Mbps for RJIL (5G) and 34.31 Mbps for VIL (5G) for Gonda City and 105.94 Mbps for Airtel (5G), 7.30 Mbps for BSNL (4G), 146.74 Mbps for RJIL (5G) and 41.12 Mbps for VIL (5G) for Bahraich City and 130.93 Mbps for Airtel (5G), 4.09 Mbps for BSNL (4G), 167.93 Mbps for RJIL (5G) and 31.66 Mbps for VIL (4G) for Balrampur City. Detail of Download throughput has been provided in the map Annexed.

ii) Data Upload performance (Overall): Average upload speed was observed as 14.59 Mbps for Airtel (5G), 1.86 Mbps for BSNL (4G), 18.94 Mbps for RJIL (5G) and 9.53 Mbps for VIL (5G) for Gonda City and 17.60 Mbps for Airtel (5G), 2.88 Mbps for BSNL (4G), 12.09 Mbps for RJIL (5G) and 11.86 Mbps for VIL (5G) for Bahraich City and 21.40 Mbps for Airtel (5G), 2.16 Mbps for BSNL (4G), 16.90 Mbps for RJIL (5G) and 12.79 Mbps for VIL (4G) for Balrampur City. Detail of Upload throughput has been provided in the map Annexed.

Locations of Dropped Calls and Call Silence instances can be seen by clicking red dot on the map Annexed.

Details of drive test route and area covered during the IDT is as under: -

1. City – Gonda- Banghusra, Jhanjhari, Police line, Balpur Jot, Keswapur Pahrwa, Veerpur, Janki Nagar, Semra Damman, Tulsipur and Sekhapur etc.

Bahraich- Begampur, Godan Basahi, Mohammad Nagar, Bakshi pura, Dikauli, Doob Kalan, Pachdewari, Gilaula, Khutehna, Chakujot, Jagtapur and Kamla Bhari etc.

Balrampur- Harbaspur, Bishunipur, Bishunapur, Dhusah, Benijot, Pahalwara koeliha, Shravasti, Ikauna, Khargaura Basti, Gopalpur and Ararpakar etc

1. Hotspots: District Court Gonda, District Hospital Bahraich, District Hospital Balrampur, Government Bus Stand Gonda, Government Polytechnic College Gonda, Railway Station Bahraich, Railway Station Balrampur etc.
2. Walk Test: Gonda Junction Railway Station and Railway Station Balrampur etc.
3. Highway: i) Prayagraj to Gonda- Passing through Mau Aima, Bela Pratapgarh, Sultanpur, Faizabad, Ayodhya and Nawabganj etc.

         ii) Gonda to Bahraich- Passing through Pipra Bazar, Manohar Jot, Suhelwa, Imaliya Ganj and Chilwariya etc.

Click here to see Annexure

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This report is based on the official release by the Ministry of Communications, issued through the Press Information Bureau, Government of India (28 OCT 2026 4:53PM by PIB Delhi). Read the original: TRAI Assesses Mobile Network Quality Across Gonda, Bahraich, Shravasti & Balrampur City, Prayagraj to Gonda and Gonda to Bahraich Highway under UPE LSA, during the month of September 2026.