Jio marks 10 years, eyes global expansion with made-in-India tech

MUMBAI: Ten years ago this month, an entire industry got a rude awakening. Rivals scrambled, tariffs collapsed, and a country that had rationed its megabytes suddenly had data to burn.

A decade on, Jio wants a sequel, only this time the stage is the planet, not just Uttar Pradesh. Even after the formal commercial launch, services stayed free for six months under a company scheme, a masterstroke that let Jio buy market share while.

What Happened

That next chapter, according to Akash Ambani, managing director of Jio Platforms and chairman of Reliance Jio, is about exporting Indian-made technology rather than importing it. In a letter to employees marking the anniversary, he argued that Jio has moved well beyond.

• On September 5, 2016, Reliance Jio Infocomm switched on commercial services and did something no Indian telco had dared: it made voice calls free.

• The origin story goes back to December 28, 2015, when Jio began quiet trials with staff before extending the network to friends and employees of Reliance Industries.

• By November 2019, Reliance Jio had been folded into Jio Platforms as part of a broader corporate reshuffle, setting up the structure now steering the next chapter.

Key Details

A company official said on Saturday that Jio is setting its sights squarely on international markets with this made-in-India stack.

• Telecom networks do not travel well across borders, spectrum and regulation are jealously guarded, and Jio’s dominance was built partly on Reliance’s deep pockets and a captive billion-plus market that will not exist elsewhere.

• Whether Jio can pull off abroad what it did at home is the real test.

• Ambani’s letter leans on the same logic for phase two, framing India as a creator of technology for the world rather than merely a consumer of it.

Why It Matters

Jio’s entire pitch a decade ago was that India did not need to wait for the West to hand it affordable connectivity; it could build its own and undercut everyone.

• There is a neat symmetry to the ambition.

What Reports Say

Coverage of the story so far points to:

• Continued reporting by Indian Television Dot Com as more details emerge