Reliance Jio hits 300 million customers

Indian carrier Reliance Jio has announced surpassing the 300 million customer milestone, clocking in at 306.7 million digital services subscribers by the end of the fourth quarter of FY19.

During the quarter, it added 26.6 million net customers and during the year, it added 120 million. Jio also has the lowest churn in the industry, at just 0.75% per month, Reliance said.

For the future, Reliance said it is looking to provide 5G and Internet of Things (IoT) offerings across its mobile network.

"Jio has built a next generation all-IP data network with latest 4G LTE technology. It is the only network built as a mobile video network and for providing voice-over-LTE technology. It has built a future-ready network with extensive fiber rollout across the country which can easily deploy 5G and beyond technology in the last leg," the company said in its results report.

"Jio has created a strong data network with infrastructure and backhaul for offering wireless services, wireline services, FttH, enterprise offering, IoT services, and other digital services. These will lead to sustained growth in data consumption on the network."

For the full year, digital services brought in 46,506 crore rupees, up 94.5% from the year prior. Average revenue per user (ARPU) for the fourth quarter was 126.2 rupees per month.

Jio will soon attain 99% of the 4G LTE network population coverage.

Across its fibre-to-the-home broadband, JioGigaFiber is being deployed across 1,600 cities to provide home, enterprise, entertainment, wireline, and smart home services.

"The go-to-market strategy is being optimised with successful test results from beta trials across the country," Reliance said on its fibre offerings.

"Customer feedback during the trials has been very encouraging. Jio is currently optimising its service offerings across fixed broadband, entertainment, and IoT-based smart home solutions."

In November, OpenSignal published a report on Indian mobile telecommunications, calling Jio "remarkable" and "hugely impressive" with its rapid rate of customer growth.

OpenSignal said Jio scored 96.7% on 4G availability, trailed by its competitors.

"The operator has managed to achieve availability scores of over 95 percent in all of India's regions, despite huge variations in topography, and in the face of massive increases in subscribers and data consumption," OpenSignal said.

"4G Availability scores of over 95% are very rare, particularly remarkable in a relatively new LTE market like India ... Jio has recently secured infrastructure assets from now-defunct rival RCOM, while it is now turning its attention to the fixed-line sector, meaning we expect to see no let-up in the Jio success story."

Jio also won across latency, with an average of 72.2 milliseconds, and tied first with Airtel and Vodafone on the category of "video experience", which analyses how customers experience video streaming including load time, stalling rates, and picture quality.

In total for FY19, Reliance reported full-year net profit of 39,588 crore rupees on revenue of 622,809 crore rupees, increasing by 13.1% and 44.6%, respectively.

"During FY 2018-19, we achieved several milestones and made significant strides in building Reliance of the future. Reliance Retail crossed ₹ 100,000 crore revenue milestone, Jio now serves over 300 million consumers, and our petrochemicals business delivered its highest ever earnings," Reliance Industries chair and managing director Mukesh D Ambani said.

On Monday, Reliance denied reports that it had breached US sanctions by purchasing Venezuelan crude oil from companies.

"Since sanctions were imposed, Reliance has made such purchases with the full knowledge and approval of the US Department of State (USDOS), and Reliance has informed USDOS of specific volumes and transactions," Reliance said in a statement.

"Such transactions do not lead to any consequent payment to PDVSA and do not violate U.S. sanctions or policies."

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