Reliance Jio hits $10B revenue run-rate in December quarter; Mukesh Ambani calls for '2G-mukt' Bharat

India's largest telecom network Reliance Jio's revenues grew 5.3 percent to Rs 22,858 crore ($3.1 billion) in the December quarter.

Profits increased 15.5 percent to Rs 3,489 crore ($477 million) over the September quarter riding on a record 25.1 million subscriber additions. Cumulatively, the network added 40 million subscribers — highest among telcos — in the calendar year (CY2020).

Jio now has 410.8 million subscribers; Reliance's digital arm also hit an annualised revenue run-rate of $10 billion during the quarter.

Jio's average revenue per user (ARPU) reached Rs 151 "with strong overall increase in customer engagement," according to RIL's earnings statement.

The network's total data traffic during the quarter also grew 28.4 percent to 1,586 crore GB over last year as 'work from home' continued to be the new normal. Average data consumption per user per month was "strong" at 12.9 GB. Total voice traffic on Jio, meanwhile, went up 18 percent to reach 97,496 crore minutes.

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During the quarter, Jio also conducted advanced tests on Jio 5G radio integrated with 5G core that delivered throughput in excess of 1 GBPS, the company revealed.

Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, RIL said in a statement,

“India is today among the leaders driving the digital revolution in the world. In order to maintain this lead, Jio will continue to accelerate the rollout of its digital platforms and indigenously developed next generation 5G stack and make it affordable and available everywhere. Jio's 5G service will be a testimony to the vision of Aatmanirbhar Bharat."

"Jio is determined to make India 2G-mukt, thereby empowering every Indian to have an affordable smartphone and be a part of digital and data revolution. We invite and encourage all stakeholders to work together to make world-class digital services available to every Indian consumer at the most affordable prices," he added.

JioMeet, Jio's new video conferencing platform launched in the pandemic, crossed 15 million subscribers at the end of 2020. "JioMeet is now evolving as a complete platform with solutions for different segments like large enterprises, healthcare industry, educational and government institutions," Reliance explained.

RIL further stated that its FTTH business was also scaling up rapidly. "Jio FTTH services witnessed increased uptake during the quarter on the back of unique offering and widespread network across the country in a short period of time," it added.