BSNL shocks telecom market tops fixed line internet performance beating Airtel and Jio
A new nPerf report shows BSNL leading India’s fixed line internet segment with strongest overall performance while Airtel and Jio trail behind despite better download speeds in some areas
India’s telecom landscape has seen a surprising shift as BSNL has climbed to the top position in the fixed line internet category, outperforming major private players like Airtel and Reliance Jio. The latest FY26 report highlights how the state run operator has steadily improved its network performance over time and finally secured the number one spot.
The findings come from global network testing firm nPerf, which evaluates real world internet experience based on download speed, upload speed, latency and overall browsing and streaming quality. According to the report, BSNL achieved 89174 nPoints, the highest score in the segment, marking a significant improvement from its previous second place ranking.
While BSNL has taken the lead overall, the competition remains tight in individual performance areas. Airtel and Jio continue to show strong results in download speed, but fall behind when other factors like upload performance and latency are considered, which ultimately impacts their total score.
BSNL’s performance gain is driven by consistent improvements across key metrics. Its download speed has increased by 21 percent year on year, reaching 78.5 Mbps, while its upload speed stands at 75.26 Mbps, the highest among all operators in this segment. The report also notes better results in latency, web browsing and video streaming experience, contributing to its top ranking.
On the other hand, Reliance Jio recorded the highest download speed at 79.6 Mbps with a strong 33 percent annual growth. However, its upload speed of 33.46 Mbps and latency of 62.61 ms weakened its overall performance score. Airtel posted a download speed of 62.4 Mbps, showing steady growth, but its upload speed of 38.71 Mbps remained lower than BSNL, limiting its position in the rankings.
In the FTTH segment, the competition tells a different story. Airtel leads with the fastest download speed at 241.72 Mbps, followed by Jio at 225.18 Mbps and BSNL at 198.54 Mbps. This shows that while BSNL is ahead in overall fixed line performance, private operators still dominate in high speed fiber broadband downloads.
Industry observers suggest that BSNL will need to focus further on improving FTTH speeds and reducing latency to maintain its lead. Meanwhile Airtel may need to strengthen its upload performance, and Jio is expected to work on balancing latency and upload speed to improve its overall experience score.
The report highlights a changing competitive landscape in India’s broadband sector where consistent performance across all parameters is becoming more important than just raw download speed.
