Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom unit under Jio Platforms Limited (JPL), reported 4% sequential growth in net profit for the fiscal second quarter. Net profit stood at Rs 5, 058 crore for the three months ended September 30, 2023, as compared to Rs 4, 863 crore in the prior three months.
Reliance Jio Infocomm, the telecom unit of Jio Platforms, added 11.1 million users to its network in the September 2023 quarter, compared with 9.2 million in the June 2023 quarter. Jio’s total subscriber base was 459.7 million as on September 30. Monthly churn was 1.7% in Q2 FY24.
Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel are competing to capture the higher ARPU home segment by offering bundled services. Both telcos have invested in 5G networks and are now looking to monetize them through fixed-wireless broadband services. The home broadband market is seen as a lucrative area for increasing ARPU, especially with the increased capacity brought by 5G.
Arpu: “Jio and Airtel have extensively invested in 5G networks, raising their network capacity and reach. Now, they are looking to monetise the same by offering 5G-based fixed-wireless broadband service (AirFiber),” brokerage BNP Paribas said in a recent report.
Analysts predict that Reliance Jio will focus on monetizing 5G now that its 5G capital expenditure cycle is nearing completion. However, meaningful monetization of the next-generation telecom technology is still about a year away. Telcos could generate significant incremental revenue by charging more for 5G services through bundling and by growing the market for fixed wireless access (FWA) services.