We want to be a global technology provider, moving beyond equipment vendor role: Akash Ambani

What led to the decision to take Jio’s technology stack overseas?

We designed our stack for India’s scale, with cost and quality beating global benchmarks at scale, and that is our proof point. Our team built and runs an end-to-end technology stack at scale in India. We believe that experience has global relevance, particularly for operators looking to upgrade networks, expand 5G, and extend broadband access. Our approach is to work with local operators as a managed-services partner, rather than simply sell licences. Operators in many markets face the jobs we faced: upgrading networks, rolling out 5G and taking broadband into homes. We want to take on those jobs alongside local operators, running our technology under managed-services arrangements instead of simply selling hardware or software licences. We will be selective, and back only partnerships where both sides gain.

Jio has said it wants to take its indigenous 5G technology global. How much of your own RAN equipment are you actually using in Jio’s network today, and do you believe Jio can realistically become a global competitor to Ericsson and Nokia in telecom equipment?

At heart, we are a technology company. Our team designed, built and deployed the Jio network primarily on proprietary technology, from the radio access network to the core. We developed our own end-to-end 5G SA stack, deployed more than one million 5G cells within a year of launch, and have filed 7,220 patent applications across 4G, 5G and 6G. Abroad, we are not setting out to be one more equipment vendor: we want to offer operators that stack, from cloud-native RAN to OSS/BSS (operating support systems/business support systems), as a managed service.

Do you believe India needs at least three strong private telecom operators for a healthy competitive market? Or are concerns around a duopoly in the telecom market misplaced?

A healthy digital ecosystem depends on sustained investment, innovation, service quality and inclusivity. Competition has an important role in encouraging operators to improve their networks and offerings, simultaneously ensuring that customers continue to receive best-in-class services at affordable prices. Our responsibility is to keep investing in technology and connectivity, as well as create value for the customers and businesses we serve. We will continue to focus on execution and on contributing to India’s digital ambitions.

Jio has repeatedly positioned itself as a company that democratised digital access by bringing down prices. Do you think that phase of aggressive price competition is over?

Affordability is how we built Jio, and it remains central to what we do. It is also why our engineers built JioBharat, a 4G phone priced at ₹799 with our own operating system, to help India’s 2G users move to data. The larger opportunity is to deliver more useful services, from home broadband to AI, over the network we have built. Pricing is not the only way to create value – it is one of the several business levers. We will remain focused on consumer experience, innovation, and sustainable investment.

You have mentioned that future revenue will be driven by services rather than just tariff hikes. With ARPU currently hovering around ₹215, which specific digital apps or enterprise solutions do you expect to cross the tipping point to meaningfully lift ARPU over the next two to three years?

We see opportunities across entertainment, cloud and productivity services, AI-enabled offerings, home broadband, and managed digital solutions for businesses. ARPU in our definition, which has been consistent over the last 10 years, it includes only connectivity revenue and not the digital services revenue.

Our digital gateway model, which is being trusted by the customers to consume digital services whether through a first-party group company or third-party services, is scaling well. We distribute 333 million digital service subscriptions every month. Our job is to make each of these genuinely useful to customers.

Will there be a tariff revision by this year-end?

We do not comment on speculative timelines for future tariff decisions. Our focus is on delivering high-quality, affordable connectivity and expanding the range of services available to customers. When we take pricing decisions, we weigh them against the value and quality of service we deliver to customers. Meanwhile, we keep adding value through plans that bundle connectivity with entertainment, cloud and AI services.

5G monetisation has been largely riding on high-speed internet access. Do you see any other significant use cases coming up that will hasten 5G returns on investment?

The 5G opportunity extends beyond faster mobile internet. We see scope to deliver a differentiated mobile experience, deepen enterprise relationships, and develop managed digital solutions spanning connectivity, cloud, digital services, and cybersecurity. AI-enabled network operations can also support more efficient service delivery. These are the areas of opportunity, although adoption and returns will depend on customer requirements and execution.

Satellite broadband is now becoming a new competitive frontier, with Starlink and other players seeking access to the Indian market. How seriously does Jio view satellite connectivity as a competitive threat, given that new technology allows direct mobile connectivity?

Jio Vision is to enable Digital Life for every Indian by connecting everything everywhere at the highest quality and most affordable price. While Telecom connectivity is ubiquitous in India with 99 per cent population coverage, there are some use cases for satellite for maritime, aviation and some of the remotest regions. We are evaluating the possibility of developing a sovereign Low Earth Orbit satellite constellation for India. At the same time, we are building ground station infrastructure in the country. We are also evaluating partnerships with leading global constellation providers to bring services there sooner. Over the long term, the opportunity is to create an indigenous satellite connectivity capability for India. This is also closely aligned with Jio’s larger mission. We want to connect every Indian home, every Indian citizen and every Indian enterprise with high-quality and affordable digital services.

What is your biggest worry that could disrupt your future plans?

In technology, the moment you stop reinventing, you start falling behind. So, I watch three things closely: keeping pace as technology and customer needs change; making sure the technology we deploy is reliable, because models can make errors; and keeping our network and our customers’ data secure and resilient. No one can eliminate these risks, so we keep building for them, and more than 12,000 of our people in digital products and technology development do exactly that.