Jio leads download speeds in TRAI test on Delhi–Agra highway and rail routes
TRAI’s July drive tests found Jio recording the highest average download speeds on both Delhi–Agra highway and Agra–Delhi railway routes, while operator performance varied on coverage and dropped calls.
The exercise assessed Airtel, BSNL, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (VIL) across parameters including coverage, call setup, dropped calls, call silence, speech quality and data download and upload performance.
NEW DELHI: Reliance Jio recorded the highest average download speeds among the four telecom operators assessed by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) during mobile network quality tests conducted along the Delhi–Agra highway and Agra–Delhi railway routes in July 2026.
TRAI conducted Independent Drive Tests (IDTs) covering 183.4 km of the Delhi-to-Agra highway route and 188 km of the Agra-to-Delhi railway route on July 16 and 17. The exercise assessed Airtel, BSNL, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (VIL) across parameters including coverage, call setup, dropped calls, call silence, speech quality and data download and upload performance.
On the Delhi–Agra highway route, Jio recorded an average 5G download speed of 213.68 Mbps, followed by Airtel at 135.33 Mbps and VIL at 46.48 Mbps. BSNL, tested on 4G, registered an average download speed of 8.10 Mbps.
Jio also posted the highest average upload speed on the highway at 20.62 Mbps, followed by Airtel at 17.62 Mbps, VIL at 13.70 Mbps and BSNL at 3.38 Mbps.
The highway test covered the Delhi–Agra route via the Yamuna Expressway, passing through locations including Dankaur, Jewar, Tappal, Surir, Javara, Baldeo, Khandauli and Kuberpur. The test also included a stationary hotspot assessment at Food Street–Food Court on the Yamuna Expressway near the Vrindavan Cut.
On dropped calls during the highway test, VIL recorded none out of 66 successfully established calls. Jio registered one dropped call out of 66, Airtel two out of 65 and BSNL 16 out of 68.
The coverage-gap assessment, which measured samples where signal strength fell below the prescribed minimum for the respective technology, recorded 180 out of 13,960 samples for Airtel, 4,876 out of 12,619 for BSNL, 145 out of 13,268 for Jio and 44 out of 13,327 for VIL.
On call-silence instances lasting more than three seconds, Airtel recorded 16 out of 63 calls, BSNL two out of 57, Jio none out of 68 and VIL 18 out of 68.
Jio also tops rail-route download speed
On the Agra–Delhi railway route, Jio again recorded the highest average download speed at 82.68 Mbps, followed by VIL at 47.48 Mbps and Airtel at 44.23 Mbps, all on 5G. BSNL recorded 9.99 Mbps on 4G.
Average upload speeds on the railway route were 13.32 Mbps for Airtel, 12.31 Mbps for VIL, 10.14 Mbps for Jio and 5.07 Mbps for BSNL.
Airtel recorded no dropped calls out of 60 successfully established calls on the railway route. BSNL recorded 12 dropped calls out of 60, Jio three out of 63 and VIL two out of 62.
For coverage gaps on the railway route, TRAI recorded 326 out of 11,709 samples for Airtel, 5,264 out of 10,895 for BSNL, 286 out of 11,697 for Jio and 224 out of 11,728 for VIL. Delhi-Agra Highway route
The railway test covered the Agra-to-Delhi route through Raja Ki Mandi Junction, Mathura Junction, Chata, Kosi Kalan, Palwal, Ballabhgarh and Faridabad.
TRAI said the drive tests were designed to capture actual mobile network performance across different usage environments using live voice and data sessions on 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G networks. The regulator said the findings have been shared with the respective telecom service providers for necessary action.
The results represent network performance on the specific routes and at the time the tests were conducted and should not be interpreted as an assessment of an operator’s overall network performance across Delhi-NCR or other service areas.
