Reliance Jio has deployed over 115,000 5G sites and approximately 690,000 5G cells across the country, claiming that its fifth-generation network rollout is well ahead of schedule. According to Reliance Industries Limited (RIL)’s investor presentation for QlFY24, Reliance Jio’s 5G network has reached over 90% of census towns. The telecom provider is now aiming to complete its 5G rollout by December 2023, rather than December 2023.
Reliance Jio and rival Bharti Ailtel began rolling out 5G networks in October 2022 and have accelerated the pace this year.
Indeed, the faster pace of 5G deployments has helped telecom equipment partners Nokia and Ericsson achieve a record second quarter (Q2) in India. Nokia India reported a 333% year-over-year increase in net sales in the second quarter, while Ericsson claimed a “leading market share” in the nation, citing good execution and record build-outs.
Pekka Lundmark, President and CEO of Nokia, stated that India’s astonishing 355% growth cannot be sustained continuously. While investments will continue, he expects growth to slow in the second part of the year. Despite this, India is anticipated to have an extraordinary year in 2023. Lundmark, on the other hand, expects growth to level off in 2024.
He attributed some of their success to winning market share through a big relationship with Reliance Jio, which broke Samsung’s exclusivity in that sector. As they approach 2024, they expect the new normal or baseline for their business in India would be far higher than it was previously.
Meanwhile, Boije Ekholm, CEO of Ericsson, stated that the surge in India’s sales has helped counterbalance the projected weakening in other regions, particularly in North America, where the build-out pace has slowed and client inventory levels have been lowered.
According to the presentation, Reliance Jio’s fixed wireless access (FWA) AirFiber device will feature network RAN slicing and can be paired with a Wi-Fi 6 home gateway to give increased speed and coverage. Furthermore, Reliance Jio AirFiber will include a single sign-on technique for a more seamless first-time login experience to STBs and all apps. All 16 application builds already accessible on Fibre are now available on AirFiber, according to Reliance Jio.
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