Reliance Jio IPO: Q&A with Akash Ambani

Mumbai: Jio Platforms plans to expand its international technology business through partnerships with telecom operators worldwide, while driving domestic growth by offering value-added digital services rather than relying primarily on telecom tariff hikes, Akash Ambani said on Thursday.

During the Q&A with media after announcing the company’s initial public offering (IPO), Ambani said Jio would seek to monetise its end-to-end technology stack in international markets through a managed services model, avoiding capital-intensive network rollouts in new geographies.

The company also plans to increase revenue from digital platforms beyond licensed telecom services, expand its home broadband business through proprietary technology and maintain healthy margins through operational efficiencies and volume growth.

Ambani said Jio’s technology strategy was driven by the objective of delivering greater value to customers rather than pursuing innovation for its own sake.

Jio to Pursue Growth Beyond Traditional Telecom Services

Responding to a question about revenue streams beyond mobility and the company’s digital platform business, Ambani said Jio operates with a unified view of its customers across telecom and digital services.

While average revenue per user (ARPU) is measured primarily through licensed telecom services, the company sees opportunities to increase customer realisation through offerings outside its traditional telecom business.

Rather than relying solely on per-gigabyte pricing as a growth lever, Jio intends to introduce additional services across its customer base and generate revenue by delivering greater value to users.

Ambani said the company would continue to explore opportunities to improve customer realisation while maintaining its focus on affordable services.

EBITDA Margins Rose to 53%

On maintaining profitability while keeping services affordable as a listed company, Ambani said Jio would focus on volume growth across mobility, enterprise, home broadband and digital services.

The company’s EBITDA margin increased from 50% to 53% over the past three years, he said, attributing the improvement to operational efficiencies and the benefits of technology-led optimisation.

Ambani added that further efficiency gains and the expansion of services beyond licensed telecom offerings could support margins going forward.

5G Network Covers 99% of India’s Population

Jio’s 5G network covers 99% of India’s population, while current network utilisation stands at around 33%, Ambani said, highlighting the potential to expand usage across consumer and home broadband services.

He said the company sees significant growth opportunities in fixed wireless access (FWA), particularly as demand for home broadband increases across smaller towns and rural markets, including Odisha.

To address the limitations of available 5G spectrum, Jio has deployed its proprietary Unlicensed Band Radio (UBR) technology, which operates on unlicensed spectrum.

According to Ambani, the technology has expanded Jio’s total addressable market (TAM) for home broadband from 40 million to 100 million homes.

With the required network equipment already deployed on towers, the company can fulfil home broadband requests within 48 hours across 19,000 PIN codes, he said.

Ambani added that the technology would allow Jio to expand broadband access without depending entirely on fibre infrastructure, while preserving valuable 5G spectrum for other services.

Jio Sees Headroom for Higher Telecom Spending

On the possibility of near-term tariff increases and the monetisation of its 5G investments, Ambani said India’s telecom spending still had considerable room to grow.

He noted that telecom spending as a share of per capita gross domestic product (GDP) had declined from around 2% in 2016 to 1% currently.

While the company retains the flexibility to adjust prices, its immediate priority is to offer more services and generate additional value rather than depend primarily on increases in per-gigabyte tariffs.

Ambani said Jio’s investments in mobility, home broadband and enterprise services had created long-term growth opportunities, with the company expecting to generate value through both customer-volume expansion and higher customer realisation.

International Expansion Through Managed Services

Jio Platforms is looking to take its proprietary technology stack to international markets through partnerships with local telecom operators, rather than investing heavily in building networks overseas, Ambani said.

He stressed that the technology was already operational on Jio’s domestic network and was not merely an experimental platform.

The company’s international strategy will focus on becoming a managed services partner, providing technology and operational capabilities to local operators rather than simply selling hardware or software licences.

Ambani said the opportunity extended to both developing and developed markets, with the scale of international revenue depending on the markets entered and the partnerships secured.

Highlighting the potential of UBR technology, he pointed to capacity constraints in the US fixed wireless access market, where, according to him, around 3% of customers account for 60% of 5G FWA capacity consumption.

The technology could help operators address such constraints by making more efficient use of available spectrum, he said.

Ambani added that Jio would assess markets carefully, particularly where fibre availability and competitive pricing could influence the value proposition for prospective partners.

Gujarat Remains an Important Growth Centre

Responding to a question about Gujarat’s role in Jio’s next phase of expansion, Ambani said the state remained an important centre of growth for the company.

He spoke about the family’s Gujarati roots, referring to Chorwad and Jamnagar, and said the family took considerable pride in its heritage.

While acknowledging Gujarat’s importance to Reliance’s growth, Ambani said Jio’s IPO was intended to create value for investors across the country.

Entire Primary IPO Proceeds to Reduce Net Debt

Ambani confirmed that 100% of the primary proceeds from Jio Platforms’ IPO would be used to eliminate its net debt, positioning the company to operate on a net debt-free basis.

He said future growth investments would be funded through the company’s operating cash generation rather than additional capital raised through the offering.

According to Ambani, around 30% of revenue flows into free cash flow, providing the company with resources to continue investing in technology and customer-facing services.

On the IPO’s pricing strategy, Uday Kotak, the lead adviser, said the company had held more than 50 one-on-one meetings with institutional investors globally before determining the price band.

At the upper end of the band, the valuation translates to 34 times FY26 earnings, compared with 41 times for Jio’s closest peer, Kotak said.

He added that investor feedback had been considered to make the offering attractive to long-term shareholders.

Ambani said the pricing approach reflected the philosophy associated with Reliance founder Dhirubhai Ambani of creating long-term shareholder value by leaving room for investors to benefit from the company’s growth.

6G Rollout Expected in the Early 2030s

On the company’s capital expenditure cycle and preparations for 6G, Ambani said the primary investment in Jio’s core network infrastructure had been completed.

He expects global 6G standards to be established around 2029, with commercial deployments likely between 2029 and 2033.

For Jio, the transition to 6G is expected to rely substantially on software upgrades, supported by its software-defined digital core, rather than requiring an entirely new core network investment cycle.

Ambani said the company would continue investing in its end-to-end technology stack and explore opportunities that improve connectivity and make digital services more accessible.

He cited UBR as an example of how technology investments could expand Jio’s addressable market and create new growth opportunities without relying solely on conventional network expansion. DeshGujarat