TRAI drive test finds patchy mobile signal in Lohit, along NH-13

Mobile users in Arunachal Pradesh's Lohit district and along the National Highway 13 stretch towards Roing face frequent gaps in signal and dropped calls, according to an independent drive test by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

The regulator released the findings through the Press Information Bureau. Its agency tested the networks of Airtel, BSNL, Reliance Jio and Vodafone Idea (Vi) between September 7 and 10, 2026, under the supervision of TRAI's Kolkata regional office. The test covered about 247 km of town roads, 13 hotspots, a 1.2 km walk test and about 155 km of highway from Silluk-Tin-Ali to Tohangam.

How many places had a weak signal

TRAI counts the share of test samples in which the signal was poor. On the town routes, which included Tezu, Sunpura, Chongkham, Brahmakund, Medo, Lohitpur and Hawa Camp, the share was:

• Airtel: about 22%
• Jio: about 28%
• BSNL: about 43%
• Vi: about 60%

On the highway, which ran through Dambuk, Bomjir, Roing, Abali and Bhismaknagar, the gaps were wider. About 61% of BSNL samples, 41% of Jio samples and 82% of Vi samples showed a poor signal. Airtel logged 3,547 poor-signal samples on the highway.

Dropped and silent calls

Calls also dropped more often on the highway. Airtel lost 12 of 62 calls, BSNL 15 of 50, Vi 8 of 32 and Jio 7 of 81. In town, Jio dropped only one of 270 calls, but its calls went silent for more than three seconds in 40 of 237 cases, the most of any operator. Vi had the highest drop rate in town, with 17 of 157 calls cut off.

Data speeds

Average download speeds on the highway were about 86 Mbps on Jio and 61 Mbps on Airtel, both using 5G and 4G. Vi averaged about 33 Mbps. BSNL, tested on 4G and 2G, averaged only 2.34 Mbps down and 2.29 Mbps up. Airtel had the best upload speed, at 11.65 Mbps.

TRAI said the results show how the networks performed on the routes and at the times of testing. It has shared the findings with the operators so they can act on them. The full report and coverage maps are on the TRAI website, and the regional office in Kolkata takes queries at [email protected].

Why it matters

Lohit sits on the road to Arunachal's eastern border districts, and NH-13 forms part of the Trans-Arunachal Highway. The weak readings for BSNL matter because the state-run operator is often the only network in remote villages. TRAI publishes these drive tests to tell consumers how their networks really perform and to push operators to improve.