JAMMU: Ten years after transforming India’s digital connectivity landscape, Jio is entering a new phase increasingly centred on indigenous technology, intellectual property, artificial intelligence, enterprise platforms and the ambition to take Made-in-India technology to global markets.
For much of its first decade, Jio’s growth story was associated with subscriber numbers, data consumption, network expansion and the sharp reduction in the cost of mobile internet. The company is now increasingly positioning technology itself as a product, with a focus on developing network software, digital platforms and engineering capabilities in India.
At Jio’s 10th anniversary, Akash Ambani, Managing Director of Jio Platforms, described the company as moving beyond telecom to build original technology across connectivity, digital products, enterprise solutions and AI, with the stated ambition of taking these technologies global and strengthening India’s position as a technology creator.
From Operating Networks to Building Them
Since entering the Indian market in 2016, Jio has developed its own 5G core and OSS/BSS systems, which support functions ranging from network operations and provisioning to billing. The company subsequently expanded these capabilities into an end-to-end 5G technology stack covering the core, radio and operations software, based on a standalone 5G architecture.
Jio achieved pan-India 5G coverage within 15 months of its launch between October 2022 and December 2023. By March 2026, the company had more than 268 million 5G users, with 5G accounting for about 55 per cent of its wireless traffic. Reliance’s FY2025-26 disclosures put Jio’s overall customer base at more than 524 million.
Growing Intellectual Property Footprint
Jio’s technology transition is also reflected in its patent portfolio. As of March 31, 2026, Jio Platforms and its subsidiaries had cumulatively filed 6,817 patents covering areas including 4G, 5G, 6G, artificial intelligence and cloud technologies, with 1,009 patents granted globally.
In 2026, Jio Platforms also entered the global top 20 in the World Intellectual Property Organization’s Patent Cooperation Treaty rankings for 2025, securing the 12th position among companies entering the top 20 following an increase in published PCT applications.
The company’s engineering and technology workforce has also expanded, with 11,303 employees reportedly working in the segment, accounting for around 40 per cent of its workforce.
Technology Built Around Indian Challenges
Jio’s technology strategy has increasingly focused on addressing challenges associated with India’s scale, infrastructure and diverse population density. One example is its proprietary point-to-multipoint Unlicensed Band Radio, or UBR, technology, developed to provide fibre-like broadband connectivity in locations where conventional fibre deployment can be difficult.
By March 2026, Jio had crossed 27 million fixed broadband connections, representing around 43 per cent of India’s fixed broadband market, according to the source document.
Its broader telecom technology portfolio includes macro base stations, outdoor and indoor small cells, millimetre-wave products and integrated 5G-Wi-Fi technologies. The company has also developed a 1 Tbps user-plane function and a compact standalone private-network solution described as “5G-in-a-box.”
From Technology User to Potential Exporter
Jio has indicated that its mobile connectivity stack, home broadband stack and managed autonomous connectivity stack are ready for global monetisation. Technologies originally developed to address the company’s own network requirements could therefore increasingly be offered to other telecom operators and enterprises.
The source document notes that Jio’s technology has been deployed across a network serving more than half a billion customers and carrying 241 exabytes of annual data traffic in FY2025-26, giving the company a large real-world environment in which to test and refine its technologies.
Enterprise, Cloud and AI Expand the Opportunity
Jio’s technology ambitions now extend beyond connectivity into enterprise solutions, cloud computing and artificial intelligence. Standalone 5G can enable secure network slices for applications in factories, hospitals and public networks, while private 5G, edge computing, cloud platforms and autonomous network management create additional enterprise opportunities.
Reliance has articulated an “AI Everywhere, For Everyone” ambition that brings together connectivity, computing infrastructure and digital platforms. The company’s latest annual report positions proprietary technologies and digital services as central to Jio’s strategy, with AI increasingly being integrated into networks, operations and customer-facing platforms.
Looking Ahead to 6G
Jio is also looking beyond the current generation of mobile technology. Its patent portfolio includes 6G technologies, while the company is participating in efforts aimed at shaping future global standards.
The broader significance lies in India’s potential role in creating intellectual property and influencing future technology architectures rather than simply adopting standards developed elsewhere.
A New Chapter for Jio
Jio’s first decade was defined by making digital connectivity affordable and accessible at unprecedented scale. Its second decade is increasingly focused on whether technology developed for India can become technology supplied to the world.
An indigenous 5G stack, thousands of patents, hundreds of millions of users, home-grown broadband technologies and ambitions spanning enterprise, cloud, AI and 6G are forming the foundation of this transition. The company’s evolving strategy therefore goes beyond connecting India—it is increasingly about building technology in India, proving it at Indian scale and taking those capabilities to global markets.
