Jio Platforms Ltd (JPL), the telecom titan under Reliance Jio, delivered a blockbuster performance in Q4 FY25, clocking a remarkable 25.7% jump in net profit to ₹7,022 crore. The profit surge is largely thanks to the telecom tariff hike rolled out in July 2024 — a move that clearly didn’t scare away customers. On a quarterly basis, profit edged up 2.34%, continuing a healthy trend of growth seen in the previous quarters (26%, 23.4%, 11.7%, and 12%, respectively). Even with a shorter quarter, Jio’s Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) climbed to ₹206.2, up from ₹203.3, marking a 13.4% year-on-year rise — a win in any accountant’s book!
Operational revenue also had a field day, increasing 17.7% year-on-year to reach ₹33,986 crore. Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) touched a new peak of ₹17,016 crore, reflecting an 18.5% jump compared to last year. Subscriber momentum picked up impressively, with 6.1 million new users joining the Jio family this quarter, taking the total count to 488.2 million. This is a sharp rebound from Q3’s 3.3 million net additions and a far cry from the subscriber loss of 10.9 million suffered after the tariff hike in Q2.
In the 5G arena, Jio continues to lead the charge — literally. A whopping 191 million subscribers have now upgraded to Jio’s 5G network, contributing to 45% of the company’s wireless data traffic. (In case you’re counting, that’s up from 40%, 34%, 31%, and 28% in previous quarters.) Fun fact: Jio now boasts the largest 5G subscriber base outside of China. However, since Jio isn’t yet charging extra for 5G services, nearly half the data is still being served for free — a situation the company acknowledges will need “future addressing”.
User engagement remains robust. Data traffic rose 19.6% year-on-year, while voice traffic increased 3.5%. Per capita, Jio users consumed a jaw-dropping 33.6 GB of data per month — that’s over 1 GB every day — proving once again that India’s love affair with internet scrolling is alive and well.
In an exciting strategic move, Jio Platforms announced a partnership with SpaceX to bring Starlink broadband services to India. Through this collaboration, Jio aims to integrate Starlink equipment into retail outlets, complete with end-to-end customer service for installation and activation. This initiative aligns with Jio’s broader strategy to expand its digital services portfolio and keep rivals like Bharti Airtel and Vodafone Idea on their toes. Airtel continues investing heavily in its 5G rollout, while Vodafone Idea, grappling with financial woes, still holds onto a sizeable customer base.
Looking ahead, Jio is also setting its sights on the AI frontier. Chairman Akash M. Ambani revealed that Jio is “building large-scale AI infrastructure” designed to add a layer of intelligence across all its services — because apparently, faster internet just isn’t smart enough anymore.
