Reliance Jio becomes India's largest telecom network; posts 62.5 pc growth in profits

India's largest and fastest-growing telecom network Reliance Jio posted a net profit of Rs 1,350 crore for the quarter ended December 31, 2019 (Q3 FY20), registering a handsome 62.5 percent growth from a year ago.

Its operational revenues increased 28.3 percent to reach Rs 13,968 crore. This included "access revenues" or interoperability charges implemented only two months ago,

Jio added 15 million 4G subscribers between October and December, ending 2019 with 370 million users – 32 percent higher than in 2018.

"Customer engagement continues to be robust with average data consumption per user per month of 11.1 GB and average voice consumption of 760 minutes per user per month," the company stated.

Overall, in Q3 FY20, Jio's total wireless data traffic grew close to 40 percent to touch 1,208 crore GB. Total voice traffic, meanwhile, grew 30 percent to 82,640 crore minutes. Its average revenue per user – a key metric in telecom business – stood at Rs 128.4.

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Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani described Jio as "the driver of digital revolution" in the country. He said in a statement to the media:

"Jio has continued on its unprecedented growth journey receiving overwhelming customer response for best-in-class mobile connectivity services. Jio is also determined to redefine the wireline infrastructure, home entertainment, and enterprise market in India with its FTTx services, which bundle best-in-class connectivity with a bouquet of digital content and services."

In November, Reliance Jio also went past incumbents Vodafone-Idea (337 million subscribers) and Bharti Airtel (326 million) to become the country's largest telecom operator, according to a TRAI report.

Throughout last year, Jio ramped up its enterprise solutions (including the launch of a host of freebies for India's small and medium businesses) and fibre-to-home services.

"The process of converting the initial test users of JioFiber to paid plans and ramping up sales across 1,600 cities is underway," the company stated.

Ambani also outlined his vision of creating a "truly Digital Society for each Indian.”

He said,

"To drive the next leg of growth, a truly transformational and disruptive digital services company has been set up, which will bring together India’s No.1 connectivity platform, leading digital app ecosystem, and the world’s best tech capabilities for creating a truly Digital Society for each Indian.”

Ahead of the results announcement on Friday, RIL shares climbed three percent on the Bombay Stock Exchange. Riding on the strong performances from its telecom and retail businesses, the conglomerate was able to offset weaknesses in some of its other verticals like petrochemicals, etc.

(Edited by Saheli Sen Gupta)

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