Reliance Jio would be adding four new revenue streams with its recently launched fiber operations. These are: IoT, Broadband for Home, Enterprise and SMBs. Revenues from each are expected to start spinning from the current financial year itself. Jio prides itself for having become profitable from very first quarter of its commercial operations in Mobile Broadband. Presently, it has a customer base of 340 mn users and is signing up more than 10 mn new customers each month.

Jio and data growth in India will always be spoken of in unison. What the company did was nothing short of revolutionary ever since it launched its services in September 2016. The total volume of wireless data usage increased from 20,092 mn GB during 2017 to 46,404 mn GB during 2018. It was only 1,375 mn GB in 2015. The average wireless data usage per wireless data subscriber per month increased from 4.11 GB in 2017 to 7.60 GB in 2018, it was just 0.41 GB in 2015.

Prior to Jio, the average tariff charged from the subscriber for wireless data was Rs 226 per GB in 2015 which steeply declined during the years 2017 and 2018. The average cost to subscriber per GB wireless data usage became Rs 11.78 per GB in 2018. It was Rs 19.35 per GB in 2017.

Total number of wireless data subscribers also increased from 424.02 mn at the end of 2017 to 578.20 mn at the end of 2018. The number of wireless data subscribers was 303.4 mn at the end of 2015.

The Jio impact on wireless data services is also noted by Trai in its latest report. It states that intense competition amongst operators in 2017-18, resulted in a significant fall in data prices. The price of 1 GB (4G) data charged by major telcos was around Rs 250 in the year 2015. Now, it is as low as Rs 5/GB. Trai calls it a significant rationalization in data tariffs by competitive market forces.

The same is now expected in Broadband with JioFiber. The new BB plans between Rs 669-Rs 8,499 covers the entire gamut from home to enterprises. Landline Phone connection is bundled at no extra cost. And voice calls are free, something that Jio did for the wireless segment also. Landline consumers will enjoy free calling to any operator, fixed or mobile, anywhere in the country. Plus, there are low tariff options for ISD calling. It also comes bundled with premium OTT apps.

RIL’s CMD, Mukesh Ambani told at the company’s AGM that mega investments for Jio’s digital infrastructure are done and only marginal investments in access are now required to meet growing demand. The network is 5G ready. It would be interesting to watch how other operators match up.