Reliance Jio's subscriber base jumps to 481 million, 108 million using 5G

Reliance Jio, the leading telecommunications company in India, witnessed its subscriber base jump by 42.4 million to 481.8 million in the financial year 2023-24 (FY24), the company’s annual report revealed on Wednesday.

The report added that of the total user base, over 108 million subscribers have migrated to the 5G network, branded as Jio’s True5G. With the 5G network rollout, the company now commands 85 per cent share of the country’s 5G capacity, it said.

Jio commands 60 per cent of India’s data traffic, the report added.

“The pan-India rollout of True5G network was completed during the year in world-record time,” it said. The Jio True5G network now carries almost 30 per cent of Jio’s mobility data traffic, and the entire 5G data is now carried on Jio’s own 5G+4G combo core.

Reliance said that its JioAirFiber - the wireless broadband service providing high-speed internet connectivity - has also been well received by consumers and has 12 million subscribers in India. The service is offered across 5,900 cities and towns, with an objective of pan-India coverage in the future.

Moreover, the JioBharat phone - the internet enabled indogenius model branded as an affordable alternative to smartphones - has “captured 50 per cent of the market share in the sub-1,000 segment,” the report noted.

“A smartphone at the price of a feature phone, the JioBharat phone will go a long way in the realisation of a 2G-mukt Bharat,” Reliance Chairman Mukesh Chairman noted in his address to the shareholders.

Jio 4G was launched in 2016.

Overall, Reliance’s digital services for the year posted an 11 per cent growth in revenue at $ 15.9 billion while its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (Ebitda) saw an increase of 12.7 per cent at $ 6.8 billion.

The Mumbai-based multinational conglomerate has businesses in various sectors including energy, retail, entertainment, petrochemicals, natural gas, telecommunications, and mass media.