Both Jio and Airtel have been publicly touting Northeast India expansion this year — but the most useful data point isn't a press release, it's TRAI's own drive test. Here's what the numbers actually say, and what it means for choosing a phone in Mizoram and the wider region.
What TRAI's Own Testing Found
TRAI conducted a drive test across Lunglei, Lawngtlai, and Siaha districts in southern Mizoram between May 20–23, 2026 (results published July 22, 2026), covering 342.4 km of routes, 11 hotspot locations including hospitals and government colleges, and walk tests at high-footfall sites like Civil Hospital, Lunglei. This is real, regional, current-year data — not a national average.
| Metric |
Jio |
Airtel |
Vi |
BSNL |
| Avg. download speed |
69.89 Mbps |
59.88 Mbps |
16.05 Mbps |
5.46 Mbps |
| Avg. upload speed |
5.22 Mbps |
11.83 Mbps |
3.43 Mbps |
2.10 Mbps |
| Dropped calls |
7 / 344 |
21 / 334 |
46 / 207 |
50 / 222 |
| Poor signal samples |
11,790 / 47,107 (~25%) |
11,270 / 46,398 (~24%) |
14,928 / 26,469 (~56%) |
17,449 / 32,964 (~53%) |
The takeaway: Jio leads on download speed and voice reliability, Airtel leads on upload speed, and both are clearly ahead of Vi and BSNL on coverage in this part of Mizoram — though roughly a quarter of samples for both Jio and Airtel still registered poor signal, a reminder that hilly terrain remains a genuine challenge for everyone here, not just the smaller players.
One important geographic caveat: this test covers southern Mizoram (Lunglei, Lawngtlai, Siaha), not Aizawl. Coverage quality in the capital, where both operators have had 5G live the longest, is generally better than these more remote districts.
The Expansion Claims, With Dates
- Airtel first launched 5G Plus in Aizawl in January 2023, with a stated plan to cover all district headquarters in Mizoram by April 2023. Airtel has separately claimed 5G Plus availability across all Northeast districts, though that milestone announcement also dates to the initial 2023 rollout period, not a fresh 2026 claim.
- Jio has been publicly emphasizing Northeast expansion through 2026, most recently presenting at the North East India Infrastructure Summit in Shillong in July 2026, and continues rolling out both 4G and 5G infrastructure alongside fiber backbone investment in the region.
- Worth noting: DoT's monthly 5G base station tracking showed Mizoram and Sikkim recorded no change in installed 5G BTS count as of January 2026, even as both operators publicized regional commitments. Expansion announcements and actual new tower counts don't always move at the same pace — treat "expansion" headlines as directional, not as confirmation of new coverage in your specific area.
Why Band Support Matters More Than the "5G" Label Here
This is the part that actually determines your day-to-day experience in Mizoram's hilly terrain, and it's where phone choice matters:
- Jio's 5G runs on n28 (700MHz) for extended, obstacle-penetrating low-band coverage, plus n78 (3300–3670MHz) for speed in denser areas.
- Airtel's 5G runs primarily on n78, plus n5 (850MHz) as a refarmed low-band coverage layer, and n40 (2300MHz) as a capacity layer in select circles.
In hilly, lower-density terrain like southern Mizoram, low-band spectrum (n28 for Jio, n5 for Airtel) matters more than mid-band speed, because low-band signals travel farther and penetrate terrain and buildings better — it's a large part of why Jio's download numbers held up well in TRAI's test despite the region's geography.
The practical problem: not every "5G phone" sold in India actually supports every relevant band, especially in the budget segment. A phone can legitimately be labeled 5G while supporting only n78, which will work fine in Aizawl's denser areas but underperform or fall back to 4G more often in outlying districts.
What This Means for Buying a Phone Here
- Check the band list on the India-specific spec sheet, not a generic "5G phone" listing. Look specifically for n28 if you're on Jio, or n5 alongside n78 if you're on Airtel, particularly if you travel between Aizawl and outlying districts regularly.
- Budget phones with MediaTek Dimensity 6300 or newer, or Snapdragon 4-series and up, generally support n28 — this covers most of the ₹15,000–20,000 phones commonly recommended for this market — but always verify against the specific model's India listing rather than assuming.
- If you mostly stay within Aizawl, band support matters less, since coverage density is higher there; the TRAI gap shows up more in the outlying districts.
- Don't assume export or global variants match the India retail unit — band support can differ between regional SKUs of the same phone name, which matters if you're buying online from a non-India-specific listing.
Bottom Line
Based on the most recent regional data available, Jio currently has the edge on raw download speed and call reliability in southern Mizoram, Airtel edges ahead on upload speed, and both still leave meaningful coverage gaps outside the main towns. Neither company's "expansion" PR should be taken as confirmation of coverage in a specific district — TRAI's drive test is a better guide, and it's worth checking for updated district-level results periodically since TRAI runs these tests across different North East LSA districts through the year. For phone buyers, the single most useful thing to verify before buying isn't the 5G badge on the box — it's whether the specific India variant supports n28 (Jio) or n5 (Airtel), which will matter far more than headline download speeds if you travel beyond Aizawl.