en.Wedoany.com Reported - The Department of Posts (DoP), under the Ministry of Communications, recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in New Delhi to conduct a nationwide survey assessing the mobile network performance of four operators—Bharti Airtel, Reliance Jio, Vodafone Idea, and BSNL—in over 568,000 villages across India. This collaboration aims to strengthen digital connectivity and progressively advance the Digital India vision.
The MoU was signed by Manisha Bansal Badal, General Manager (Citizen-Centric Services & Rural Business) of the Department of Posts, and SMK Chandra, Joint Advisor (Broadband & Policy Analysis) of TRAI, with senior officials from both sides attending the signing ceremony. The survey will leverage the existing network of over 140,000 rural branch post offices, with village postal staff using an Android mobile application developed by TRAI during their daily delivery rounds. Covering villages across all states and union territories, the survey aims to collect on-the-ground data on mobile network performance, identify connectivity gaps, improve telecom infrastructure, and support evidence-based policy decisions.
Speaking at the event, Manisha Bansal Badal stated that the Department of Posts has always been committed to collaborating with various government organizations to provide citizen-centric services using its nationwide network. This partnership with TRAI further reinforces the Department's commitment to participating in the Digital India initiative, with postal staff playing a key role in generating authentic on-the-ground data and improving rural telecom services. TRAI's Chief Advisor (NSL), Arun Agarwal, noted that the collaboration with the Department of Posts will significantly enhance TRAI's ability to assess telecom network performance at the grassroots level, and that the Department's field network enables the system to collect reliable performance data, supporting informed regulatory decisions and improving consumer service quality.
Under the MoU, the Department of Posts is responsible for field survey operations, while TRAI provides the survey application, technical support, training, and centralized monitoring. This one-year collaboration is expected to help strengthen telecom service quality and bridge digital connectivity gaps.
