Jio’s overall customer base has now crossed the milestone of 450 million subscribers, reflecting a year-on-year revenue growth of over 20%, posting an all-time-high revenue of Rs 1,19,791 crore and an EBITDA of Rs 50,286 crore, said Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director (MD) of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), as he addressed the 46th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Monday.
Presenting the report on digital services business, the RIL chairman said: “Per-user data consumption on Jio’s network has also surged, with the average user now consuming over 25 GB every month. This translates to a monthly data traffic of 1,100 crore GB, representing a 45% year-on-year growth.”
“Jio was launched seven years ago with an ambitious mission: to transform India into a premier digital society, where technology would bring positive change in every sphere of our lives and in every sector of the nation’s economy. It has been our great privilege to contribute to this revolution, and we have invested our heart and soul into building a digital public infrastructure which the entire world has begun to admire. Jio has indeed been the main catalyst of New India’s spectacular digital transformation,” Ambani said.
JIO TRUE 5G: ‘To cover the entire country by December this year’
Elaborating on Jio True 5G, the 5G broadband, Ambani said that the rollout began last October and in nine months, Jio 5G is already present in over 96% of the census towns of our country. “We’re on track to cover the entire country by December this year. This makes Jio 5G the fastest-ever 5G rollout of this scale anywhere in the world. Today, nearly 85% of the total 5G cells operational in India are in Jio’s network. At our current pace, we are adding one 5G cell to our network every 10 seconds, and we will have nearly one million 5G cells operational in our network by December,” he said.
He said that from December this year, “RIL will be able to promptly fulfil each and every demand for Jio 5G broadband connection across the country”. “Recently, we used our own 5G stack to become the first operator in the world to launch commercial services on millimetre-wave spectrum, using Standalone 5G. This high-capacity, low-latency layer will significantly enhance private 5G, home broadband, and enterprise use cases. We have also built our own low-power small cells to go deeper into specific pockets of high consumption such as tourist spots and temples in a highly energy-efficient manner. These advantages, along with our massive scale of deployment, mean that the best 5G coverage, capacity and experience is possible only with Jio 5G,” Ambani said.
Ambani said that with over 50 million 5G customers, Jio is already leading in 5G adoption in India. “With the growing adoption of Jio 5G, we are also seeing an increasing trend of high-ARPU, post-paid customers choosing Jio as their preferred network. And Jio is the operator of choice for mobile users. Our net port-ins via Mobile Number Portability was five times than that of our nearest competitor,” he said.
JIO’s ECOSYTEM OF CONNECTIVITY, ATMANIRBHAR VISION, MADE-IN-INDIA TECH
Ambani said that Jio is also the only company that offers its 5G customers the complete ecosystem of connectivity, devices, support services and value-added services. “Through Reliance Retail, we have the most expansive sales and support network for 5G devices and services across India. And we have plugged all leading 5G Smartphone OEMs into this network to ensure nationwide availability, and adoption, of the widest range of 5G devices. Taken together, this comprehensive ecosystem makes Jio the prime mover and undisputed leader in India’s 5G evolution,” he said.
“When we launched our 4G services in 2016, we relied on global partners for equipment. Today, our 5G rollout is powered by Jio’s own 100% in-house developed 5G stack, which perfectly aligns with our Prime Minister’s Atmanirbhar vision. It features advanced technologies such as Standalone 5G architecture, Carrier Aggregation, and Network Slicing, with advanced AI/ML capabilities that optimise our vast network for unparalleled quality, reliability and user experience. It is designed to seamlessly integrate with the 4G and 5G equipment from other global vendors. Jio’s own portfolio of 5G radios range from small cells to large tower-based radios, addressing the entire spectrum of outdoor and indoor usage scenarios. Our focus on continuous innovation has positioned us to be among the first globally to develop 6G capabilities. In fact, we have become one of the largest filers of global patents from India for digital technologies, affirming our transformation from a telecom operator to a technology company,” he said.
“In the coming years, I can see Jio leveraging our Made-in-India tech stack to drive value creation and revenue growth, both at home and abroad,” Ambani said.
“Per-user data consumption on Jio’s network has also surged, with the average user now consuming over 25 GB every month. This translates to a monthly data traffic of 1,100 crore GB, representing a 45% year-on-year growth.”
BRIDGING DIGITAL DIVIDE for 2G USERS WITH JIO BHARAT
Even today, 250 million feature phone users in India remain stuck in the 2G era, unable to access digital services. “To eliminate this digital divide in India once and for all, we have recently launched Jio Bharat, a revolutionary, ultra affordable 4G phone. Priced at Rs 999, which is less than the price of a 2G feature phone, Jio Bharat has smartphone-like features such as live TV, streaming video and music, digital photography, and even UPI payments. We expect a bulk of 2G users to join our network,” he said.
JIOFIBER to JIOAIRFIBER THE LAST-MILE DIGITAL CONNECT: ‘LAUNCH ON GANESH CHATURTHI’
The RIL chairman said that Jio Fiber has crossed 10 million subscribers, each of whom consumes, on an average, over 280 GB of data per month which is “over 10 times higher than our per-capita mobile data consumption”.
“Today, Jio’s optical fibre infrastructure spans over 1.5 million km across India…Yet, providing physical last-mile connectivity is a painstaking process in most parts of our country. This leaves millions of potential customers without home… This is where JioAirFiber, our fixed-wireless broadband offering, comes in. JioAirFiber uses our pan-India 5G network and advanced wireless technologies to bypass the need for last-mile fibre. Through optical fibre, we can currently connect around 15,000 premises daily. But with JioAirFiber, we can supercharge this expansion with up to 150,000 connections per day which is a 10-fold increase, expanding our addressable market over the next three years to over 200 million high-paying homes and premises,” he said.
Ambani said, “JioAirFiber will launch on the auspicious occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi on September 19, giving us another avenue for customer value and revenue growth in the untapped Indian home segment.”
JIO PLATFORMS, THE POWER OF 5G
Jio Platforms, our digital services arm, is already providing end-to-end professional and managed services for all the businesses of the RIL Group, covering diverse verticals such as telecom, retail, e-commerce, manufacturing, media and financial services, said the RIL chairman.
“I believe Jio Platforms is now ideally placed to offer these innovative platforms, services and managed services to businesses outside the RIL Group, both in India and abroad. This represents yet another powerful driver of growth for both Jio connectivity and Jio platforms,” he said.
Ambani said, “Jio 5G holds the potential to transform all sectors of our economy, especially those with maximum grassroot impact. In agriculture, real-time monitoring and data analysis can enhance farm productivity and crop yields. In education, we can deliver immersive e-learning experiences to the remotest parts of our country, democratising education for every student. In healthcare, we can use telemedicine to ensure that quality healthcare reaches every corner of India. For the MSME sector, we can enable our small businesses with digital tools, empowering them to innovate, expand, and drive economic growth and job creation.”
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