Five years since beginning commercial operation, Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom subsidiary of Reliance Industries (RIL), has boosted the country’s internet penetration by a massive 312 per cent from 192.30 million broadband subscribers in September 2016 to 792.78 million broadband subscribers in June 2021, Jio has said in a media release.  

The telecom company, which operates mobile and internet services under the Jio brand, has played a vital role in bringing down data cost by over 93 per cent from around Rs 160 per gb to Rs about 10.77 per gb during the period under review, Jio has added. 

Total data consumption per user per month has increased by over 1,303 per cent from 878.63 mb to 12.33 gb, while voice consumption per user per month has surged by more than 164 per cent from 310 minutes to 818 minutes during the past five years, the media release reveals. 

The country’s mobile operator, promoted by RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani, has hastened digitalisation in the country, which has helped build a robust startup ecosystem. The total number of unicorns in the country has increased by six-fold from 10 in 2016 to 60 as of August 2021. Many startups have appreciated Jio on record for their growth and success, the media release has disclosed. 

Talking about the rapid growth in Bengal, Jio has said that it became the revenue leader in the Bengal telecom circle within two-and-a-half years of launch by March 2019. The company has added that it has a revenue market share of 47.2 per cent and a customer market share of 39.7 per cent in the eastern State and has penetrated deep into its rural markets with JioPhone.