Srinagar: The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) has released the findings of an independent assessment of mobile network services across major urban centres and highways in Kashmir, revealing significant disparities in network quality among telecom operators. While Airtel and Reliance Jio delivered superior 5G performance with negligible call drops, BSNL and Vodafone Idea (Vi) recorded higher coverage gaps, slower data speeds and poorer voice quality in several locations.
The Independent Drive Test (IDT), conducted in June 2026 under the Jammu and Kashmir Licensed Service Area (LSA), covered Srinagar, Gulmarg, Anantnag and Pahalgam cities, besides the Srinagar–Pahalgam and Srinagar–Gulmarg highway corridors. The exercise assessed real-time voice and data performance, including coverage, call drop rate, call setup success, download and upload speeds, latency and speech quality.
According to the report, Airtel and Jio reported no dropped calls during city drive tests in Srinagar and Gulmarg, whereas BSNL recorded seven dropped calls out of 340 successful calls and Vi recorded three out of 360. BSNL also logged 39 call silence incidents lasting more than three seconds, compared with none for Airtel, two for Jio and nine for Vi.
The regulator also found notable differences in network coverage. In Srinagar and Gulmarg, Airtel registered 194 poor signal samples and Jio 167, compared with 1,380 for BSNL and 4,500 for Vi. Similar trends emerged in Anantnag and Pahalgam, where Vi recorded the highest coverage gaps at 6,947 samples, followed by BSNL with 3,242, while Airtel and Jio registered 226 and 365, respectively.
The performance gap was equally evident in mobile internet speeds. In Srinagar and Gulmarg, Jio recorded the highest average download speed at 276.92 Mbps, followed by Airtel at 188.64 Mbps. Vi averaged 24.14 Mbps, while BSNL recorded 10.77 Mbps. Upload speeds showed a similar trend, with Jio at 35.90 Mbps, Airtel at 33.69 Mbps, Vi at 10.79 Mbps and BSNL at 6.34 Mbps.
In Anantnag and Pahalgam, Airtel led download speeds at 183.84 Mbps, closely followed by Jio at 163.53 Mbps, while BSNL and Vi averaged 6.86 Mbps and 12.92 Mbps, respectively. Upload speeds stood at 24.98 Mbps for Jio, 24.43 Mbps for Airtel, 5.79 Mbps for Vi and 2.91 Mbps for BSNL.
On the Srinagar–Pahalgam highway, Airtel and Jio again reported zero dropped calls during the test period, while Vi recorded four dropped calls. Average download speeds were 192.01 Mbps for Airtel, 88.24 Mbps for Jio, 14.61 Mbps for BSNL and 14.27 Mbps for Vi.
The Srinagar–Gulmarg highway route showed comparatively weaker performance across all operators. Airtel recorded four dropped calls, while BSNL, Jio and Vi each logged seven. Despite the increase in call drops, Airtel maintained the highest average download speed at 176.89 Mbps, followed by Jio at 88.14 Mbps, Vi at 13.80 Mbps and BSNL at 8.82 Mbps.
TRAI said the drive tests covered nearly 374 kilometres of city routes, 111.5 kilometres of highways, six hotspot locations, a 4.9-kilometre walk test from Lal Chowk to Ghanta Ghar and inter-operator calling at one location between June 8 and 12. The hotspots included SMHS Hospital, Srinagar Railway Station, the University of Kashmir, Betaab Valley Viewpoint and the Accountant General’s office.
The regulator said the findings have been shared with all telecom service providers for necessary corrective action. It noted that the tests were conducted to provide consumers with an independent assessment of mobile network quality and encourage operators to improve their services.
