The Reliance Jio has turned 10 and the Jio Platforms Managing Director Akash Ambani has thanked its employees, and outlined the company’s strategy to focus more on technology and artificial intelligence (AI).
“Whatever pride I feel today belongs to you far more than it belongs to me,” Ambani said in an email addressed to his employees.
“The company began a decade ago with a vision set by his father, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) Chairman and Managing Director Mukesh Ambani, to make digital connectivity affordable and accessible to Indians,” he said.
“Ten years on, that conviction has changed India and I feel a deep sense of pride and gratitude for how far we have come together,” he said.
Jio now serves more than half a billion customers, he said adding that the company has built the foundation of Digital India at scale and accelerated the country’s transition to 5G.
“We have built the foundation of Digital India at unprecedented scale, accelerated India’s transition to 5G, connected homes and businesses, and continue to expand what technology can make possible for millions of Indians,” he said.
Jio’s launch 10 years back, changed the economics of mobile data, accelerated smartphone and internet adoption, forced consolidation in the telecom sector and eventually gave Reliance a platform for broadband, 5G, digital services, enterprise technology and AI.
2016: Jio enters
Reliance Jio commercially launched its services in 2016, following a period of network testing and employee trials.
The company entered with an all-IP 4G network and an aggressive introductory offer that included free voice calls and complimentary data.
Jio’s strategy immediately put pressure on incumbent telecom operators and changed consumer expectations around the cost of mobile data.
2017: The data consumption boom
This was the year when the Indian mobile sector witnessed the mobile data boom. The initial free-service period helped Jio rapidly build its subscriber base and encourage consumers to use mobile internet more extensively.
Within less than a year of Jio’s launch, India moved from 155th position globally to No. 1 in mobile data consumption.
For consumers, data increasingly became a mainstream utility rather than a premium service.
2018: Takes 4G to feature-phone users
Jio expanded beyond conventional smartphones with the JioPhone, targeting consumers who continued to use feature phones.
Through this phone, Jio helped the users to get hands on turning older 2G handsets into the 4G ecosystem. Reliance later said the JioPhone helped transition more than 100 million 2G users to 4G.
Rather than simply selling connectivity, the company was beginning to build an ecosystem around devices, software and services.
2019: Jio subscribers base expand
In FY2018-19, Jio crossed the 300-million subscriber mark and became India’s largest mobile operator by adjusted gross revenue.
Further, JioFiber became part of the push into fixed broadband and home entertainment, bringing high-speed internet connectivity into homes.
2020: Global investors fall in
One of the biggest turning points came in 2020 when Jio’s digital businesses were consolidated under Jio Platforms.
The company attracted a series of major global investors, including Facebook (Meta) and Google, along with other technology and financial investors.
During FY2020-21, Reliance said Jio Platforms raised Rs 1,52,056 crore from 13 investors.
2021: JioPhone Next expands the smartphone push
Jio and Google introduced JioPhone Next, an affordable smartphone aimed at users moving from feature phones to smartphones.
The device used Pragati OS and was positioned as another way of expanding smartphone and internet access.
By FY2021-22, JioFiber had crossed 5 million connected homes and had become India’s largest FTTH provider, according to Reliance.
2022: Jio moves to 5G
The next major technology transition came with the launch of Jio True 5G as the telecom company began rolling out standalone 5G services, moving from its 4G foundation to a new-generation network designed to support higher speeds, lower latency and more connected devices.
Reliance said its 5G network was built around an indigenous end-to-end 5G solution developed by Jio.
2023: Jio’s digital ambitions
The broader Reliance ecosystem increasingly included digital platforms, entertainment, commerce, cloud, enterprise technology and financial services. Reliance’s corporate history also records the appointment of Akash Ambani, Isha Ambani and Anant Ambani to the RIL board in 2023.
2024: Fixed wireless broadband
Jio AirFiber came into the picture as the telecom service provider expanded its home broadband strategy using fixed wireless access to reach homes where traditional fibre connections could be harder to deploy.
Reliance identifies FWA as one of the major technology transitions in Jio’s journey, following its earlier moves into 4G, fibre-to-the-home and standalone 5G.
2025: Jio’s scale continues to grow
By March 2025, Jio’s subscriber base had reached 488.2 million. Average monthly data consumption stood at 33.6 GB per subscriber, while average voice usage was 1,027 minutes, according to Reliance’s FY2024-25 annual report.
2026: Jio completes 10
As of March 2026, Jio’s customer base had crossed 524 million. Its 5G subscriber base had crossed 268 million, while JioAirFiber had reached around 13 million connected homes. Total fixed-broadband subscribers stood at 27.1 million.
