Call Drops Continue to Frustrate Highway Travellers, Impacting Work and Business: Survey

New Delhi: Poor mobile connectivity remains a major concern for smartphone users in India, with nearly 79 per cent reporting call drops or network interruptions while travelling on highways, according to a new survey released on Thursday.

The study by CyberMedia Research (CMR), which surveyed 2,000 smartphone users aged 18 to 35 across New Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata, found that unreliable mobile networks are affecting both the professional and personal lives of users.

According to the report, 64 per cent of respondents who use their smartphones for business said they had missed a sales opportunity or lost a potential deal because of a dropped call. Additionally, two-thirds of those surveyed believed they had lost clients due to poor network performance.

The findings also highlighted the emotional toll of connectivity issues. About 83 per cent of respondents said call drops during important conversations left them feeling anxious, frustrated or helpless, while 71 per cent reported having to reconnect with customers after a dropped call, something many felt harmed their professional credibility.

“India has made significant strides in expanding mobile coverage, but maintaining reliable connectivity in everyday situations such as highways, metro systems and indoor low-signal areas continues to be a challenge,” said Prabhu Ram, Vice President of Industry Research Group at CMR.

The report further suggested that smartphone hardware and signal-processing technology can influence connectivity performance in difficult network conditions.

Among frequent highway travellers using smartphones equipped with triple-signal chipset technology, 81 per cent said they noticed better network reception after switching devices. Around 74 per cent reported more dependable calling experiences during highway journeys, while 72 per cent said their phones regained network signals more quickly after passing through low-coverage zones.

Separately, a recent CMR report noted that India’s smartphone market recorded one of its weakest quarterly performances in recent years, with shipments declining 2 per cent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2026. Rising prices of DRAM and NAND flash memory components pushed up smartphone costs, leading many price-conscious consumers to postpone device upgrades.

With inputs from IANS