'5G-dark to 5G-bright India': Reliance Jio 5G success drives 33% growth in data usage

During the 47th Annual General Meeting of Reliance Industries, Chairman Mukesh Ambani provided an in-depth overview of Reliance Jio’s significant technological advancements over the past year. His address highlighted Jio’s commitment to innovation and its role in transforming India’s digital landscape.

Ambani announced the completion of Jio True 5G’s pan-India rollout, describing it as the world’s largest and fastest 5G deployment. “Over 85 per cent of the 5G radio cells operating in India belong to Jio,” he said, emphasising the scale of Jio’s network. He noted that Jio True 5G now offers the widest coverage and highest quality, reaching every corner of India.

This achievement, according to Ambani, has transformed India from being 5G-dark to 5G-bright, creating one of the world’s most advanced 5G networks. He attributed this success to Jio’s unmatched spectrum holdings, 5G Standalone Architecture, and advanced technologies like Carrier Aggregation and Network Slicing. “Jio is the only operator in India, and among the first globally, to fully harness 5G’s power,” he remarked.

Leading the world in data usage

Ambani also shared insights into Jio’s impact on global data usage. He revealed that the average Jio customer now uses over 30 GB of data monthly, driving a 33% growth in data traffic over the past year. “Today, Jio’s network carries nearly 8% of global mobile traffic, surpassing even major global operators, including those in developed markets,” he said. Despite this immense data load, Jio has maintained the highest service quality, setting new benchmarks globally.

The rapid adoption of Jio True 5G has also been noteworthy. “In just two years, over 130 million customers have embraced Jio True 5G,” Ambani shared, highlighting the world’s fastest 5G adoption rate.

Ambani underscored that Jio’s journey has been driven by its own technology, focusing on innovation rather than integration. “One of the most gratifying aspects of Jio’s journey is that everything we have achieved is powered by our own technology. From the start, we knew that leading the digital revolution required innovation, not just integration,” he said.

Jio’s success is rooted in its fully homegrown 5G stack, along with its in-house developed Operations Support Systems (OSS) and Business Support Systems (BSS). Ambani highlighted Jio’s growing intellectual property portfolio, noting that “Jio is among India’s largest patent holders, with over 350 patents in 5G and 6G technologies alone.” These patents, he said, are crucial for securing Jio’s place at the forefront of global innovation.

Jio has also made significant strides in digital home services, now serving nearly 30 million customers across its digital broadband and digital TV services. “This makes us one of the largest digital home service providers globally,” Ambani said, emphasising the company’s expanding footprint.

In the business sector, Jio has become a trusted partner for over a million small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across India. “We are proud to be the trusted partner for over 80% of the top 5,000 large enterprises in the country,” Ambani stated, highlighting Jio’s dominance in business connectivity.