New Delhi, 20 July (H.S.):

Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel emerged as the top performers in the mobile network quality assessment conducted by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in Mumbai during June, while state-owned telecom operator MTNL recorded the weakest performance. The assessment evaluated various parameters, including call quality, network coverage and data speeds.

According to information released by the Ministry of Communications, Airtel recorded coverage gaps at 102 test locations, while Jio reported gaps at 144 locations. Vodafone Idea (Vi) witnessed coverage gaps at only five locations. However, MTNL’s network performance remained significantly poor, with coverage gaps reported in 17,877 test samples.

In terms of call drop performance, Jio achieved the best results, with no call drops recorded during the testing period. Airtel and Vi each recorded one call drop, while MTNL’s network witnessed 28 call drops.

The issue of voice interruptions or call silence was reported 14 times on Airtel’s network. In comparison, Jio and Vi faced this problem only once each. No significant performance data regarding call silence was recorded for MTNL.

Jio also maintained its lead in mobile internet speeds. The company recorded an average download speed of 237.81 Mbps and an average upload speed of 40.92 Mbps. Airtel registered an average download speed of 93.76 Mbps and an upload speed of 25.92 Mbps. Vi recorded a download speed of 70.69 Mbps and an upload speed of 25.57 Mbps. Data performance figures for MTNL were not available.

The Ministry of Communications stated that the independent quality assessment was carried out between June 10 and 12 across Mumbai city, covering a 204.3-kilometre route and seven major public locations. The assessment included key areas such as the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, Mahim, Dadar, Sion, Worli, Parel, Haji Ali, Mumbai Central, Byculla, Girgaon and Churchgate.

Network quality was also tested at major locations including Byculla Railway Station, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), Churchgate Railway Station, Dadar Railway Station, Gateway of India, Marine Drive and Parel Railway Station.

TRAI regularly conducts independent assessments of mobile network quality across different cities in the country to ensure better telecom services for consumers and to provide an impartial evaluation of service providers’ performance.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar