Vodafone Idea Struggles in North East; TRAI Drive Test Puts Airtel, Jio Ahead in Calls and Speeds

Vodafone Idea (Vi) customers in the North East are facing significant service quality issues, with high call failure rates and slow data speeds compared to rivals Airtel and Reliance Jio, according to the latest Independent Drive Test (IDT) findings released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

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The regulator conducted extensive tests between June 2 and June 23, 2025, across Itanagar, Naharlagun, Dimapur, Kohima, and the Itanagar–Bumla Pass (Tawang) highway. Covering more than 270 km of city roads, 526 km of highways, and 28 hotspot locations, the assessment measured real-world performance on voice and data services across 2G, 3G, 4G, and 5G networks.

Vodafone Idea Lags in Call Success and Drop Rates

TRAI’s data shows Vi’s Call Setup Success Rate (CSSR) in the auto-selection mode (5G/4G/3G/2G) was just 67.18%, far behind Airtel’s 90.11% and Jio’s 89.73%.  The operator also recorded a 3.68% drop call rate, higher than Airtel’s 1.23% and Jio’s 2.17%, indicating a greater likelihood of ongoing calls being abruptly disconnected.

Muted Calls and User Experience Issues

Call silence moments during a call when no audio is transmitted was another area of concern. Vi registered a 7.22% mute rate, compared to Airtel’s 4.43% and BSNL’s 3.12%, pointing to a degraded conversation experience.

Data Speeds Trail Competition

In data performance overall, Vi’s (4G/2G) average download speed across the region was 20.89 Mbps, well below Airtel’s 80.01 Mbps and Jio’s 91.09 Mbps. Upload speeds overall averaged 6.93 Mbps, trailing Airtel’s 15.84 Mbps and Jio’s 8.30 Mbps.