TRAI Drive Test Checks Mobile Networks in Leh Region

The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) released on 30 October 2026 the findings of an Independent Drive Test carried out across Leh and nearby routes in the Jammu and Kashmir Licensed Service Area during August 2026. A drive test checks, on the ground, the quality of voice and data services that telecom operators actually deliver, and the results are published so that consumers know what to expect and operators are pushed to improve.

How the test was run

The exercise was conducted from 17 to 21 August 2026 under the supervision of the TRAI regional office at Delhi. It covered a city drive of 62.6 km, a highway drive of 396.3 km, seven hotspot locations, a walk test of 1.1 km in Leh Market and inter-operator calling at one location. Live voice and data sessions were set up on 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G networks using SIM cards of all operators in multiple test handsets, and the sessions were studied in real time. The operators covered were Airtel, BSNL and Reliance Jio.

What was measured

The parameters include the coverage gap, which is the share of samples falling below the prescribed signal strength, the call setup success rate, the drop call rate, call setup time, the number of call silence instances lasting beyond three seconds, and speech quality measured by the mean opinion score. On the data side, download and upload throughput, latency, jitter and the packet drop rate were recorded.

Speeds on the Leh city route

Speeds on the highway routes

On the Leh to Nubra Valley highway the average download speed was 109.57 Mbps for Airtel, 16.39 Mbps for BSNL and 122.16 Mbps for Reliance Jio. On the Sakti to Sangam highway the download figures were 96.97 Mbps for Airtel and 203.25 Mbps for Reliance Jio. The routes passed through Khardung La, Diskit, Tangtse, Spangmik and Thiksey, and the hotspot list included Leh Airport, Leh Market, Gurudwara Sri Pathar Sahib, EJM College and SNM Hospital. The findings have been shared with the operators for corrective action and the detailed report is on the TRAI website.