Jio To Offer 5G-Based WiFi In Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata & Varanasi

India’s largest telco, Reliance Jio, has launched 5G-based WiFi, or 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), service in high-footfall areas in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata and Varanasi. Further, Jio has included Chennai in the list of cities set to receive the telco’s 5G service in the first phase of the rollout.

Areas such as educational institutions, religious places, commercial hubs, railway stations and bus stands would be covered by Jio’s 5G-based WiFi. “Jio teams are working round the clock to make additional cities go live and increase the availability of True5G-ready handsets,” the company said.

Akash Ambani, chairman of Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, said, “As stated earlier, 5G cannot remain an exclusive service to the privileged few or those in our largest cities. It must be available to every citizen, every home, and every business across India. This is a step in that direction to enable every Indian with JioTrue5G.”

“Today, we have powered the first True5G-enabled Wi-Fi service at the holy town of Nathdwara and the temple of Lord Srinath Ji,” added Ambani.

5G FWA is one of the most popular use cases of 5G across the world and it is being eyed by the telcos as one of the primary sources of revenue, apart from the enterprise use cases and consumer telecom. Simply put, 5G FWA uses 5G telecom networks to provide WiFi at a location capable of delivering speeds comparable to optical fibre.

Hence, Jio’s move could also be a test run for a potential revenue stream for the telco.

The WiFi launch comes after Jio launched its 5G services earlier this month. On Dussehra (October 5), the telco launched 5G across the same cities that are getting the 5G-based WiFi service.

The telco stated that it would be completing its rollout by December 2023. It is prudent to mention that Jio is developing a 5G Standalone (SA) network, in contrast to the 5G NSA (Non-Standalone) that Airtel and Vodafone Idea are rolling out. While 5G NSA takes less time to deploy and roll out, 5G SA delivers higher data speeds and capacity.

Recently, it announced partnerships with the Scandinavian telecom gear makers Ericsson and Nokia for building a 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) in the country.

Jio is reportedly talking with global investors to raise up to $1.5 Bn to increase Capex on its 5G rollout.

The country’s largest telco in terms of the user base, Jio added more than 32.8 Lakh subscribers in August 2022. The telco accounts for 36.48% of the total wireless user base, per TRAI figures. Jio’s customer base declined slightly to 427.6 Mn at the end of September 30, 2022, against 429.5 Mn a year ago.

Per Jio’s Q2 FY23 financial results, it recorded a 26.9% year-on-year (YoY) increase in net profit to INR 4,729 Cr. The telco’s average revenue per user (ARPU) increased to INR 177.2 per subscriber per month during Q2 FY23.