TRAI Audit Reveals Coverage Gaps, Dropped Calls Along NH-27 and NH-627 in Assam

New Delhi: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has identified significant mobile network coverage gaps and service quality issues along the Lanka–Narainpur Railway Bridge corridor in Assam, following an independent drive test conducted on National Highways 27 and 627.

The assessment, carried out in March 2026, evaluated the performance of Airtel, BSNL, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea across voice and data services. The findings were released by TRAI on Monday.

The regulator found that mobile connectivity remains inconsistent across sections of the route, with all operators reporting areas of poor signal strength. BSNL recorded the highest number of samples with inadequate signal quality, followed by Vodafone Idea, Airtel and Reliance Jio.

Voice service quality also varied across operators. Vodafone Idea reported the highest number of dropped calls at 21 during the test period, while Airtel recorded the lowest at nine. BSNL and Jio registered 12 and 14 dropped calls respectively.

In data performance, Reliance Jio emerged as the strongest performer, delivering an average download speed of 88.21 Mbps, ahead of Airtel’s 66.50 Mbps. Vodafone Idea recorded 16.84 Mbps, while BSNL achieved 4.86 Mbps.

Airtel led in upload performance with an average speed of 13.63 Mbps, followed by Jio at 6.61 Mbps, Vodafone Idea at 3.99 Mbps and BSNL at 3.10 Mbps.

The drive test covered highway sections passing through Bamun Gaon, Dijabora, Mupa, Didaodip, Retzol and Damchara. TRAI said the findings have been shared with the respective telecom service providers for corrective action and service improvement.

The regulator conducts such independent drive tests periodically to assess real-world network performance and identify service gaps affecting consumers across highways, urban centres and rural areas.

Source: TRAI Independent Drive Test, March 2026.