Jio Cracked the Code for 5G Monetization: It's Fixed Wireless Access (FWA)

JioAirFiber holds approx 85% of 5G-FWA market

While Jio and Airtel are the prominent 5G player in the country, both telcos are yet to find a case of monetization of 5G - many call it as odd 5G means poor business. But as per the latest TRAI data, Jio cracked the code - FWA helps them to generate revenue from 5G. 

As the data published by TRAI at the end of April, 2025 which is the first time for TRAI to differentiate 5G FWA separately from wireline broadband, highlighting rising importance of 5G-FWA as a key revenue stream for telcos. TRAI started counting 5G-FWA data from January 2025. 

By the end of January 2025, India's 5G-FWA subscriber base was stood at 5.72 millions, while Jio holds 4.8 million such subscribers, while other 5G operator Airtel has such subscribers just over 0.8 millions. Just like mobile race, Jio also wins here, thanks to their faster 5G roll out. 

Interestingly the growth of 5G-FWA continues in February 2025 - monthly growth clocked to 9.71%. 

Jio's AirFiber subscribers increased to 5,236,895 from 4,844,071 - that's net addition of 392,824 worth 8.11% monthly growth. However in January AirFiber holds 84.74% market share, in February it dropped to 83.50%. 

While Airtel's Xtream AirFiber grew 18.59% monthly - it added 162,128 subscribers in February 2025 - totaling to 1,034,436 subscribers from January's total of 872,308. 

Rural market is also welcoming 5G-FWA. In January '25 202,629 rural users were using 5G-FWA and in February it grew to 213,625. 

Jio AirFiber Speedtest with 100Mbps plan at 5AM

It seems hassle-free, wireless broadband in the form of 5G-FWA is being embraced by the Indians in coming days. But still unlimited 5G data on mobile is faster as there is no speed restriction. On 5G-FWA you get network slicing and get as speed as you pay. But freebies hopefully will not last long. 

As Vi is launching 5G in phase by phase manner - and offering unlimited 5G data in selected plans, I guess Vi will 5G-FWA soon, but to get best speed they need to deploy 5G-SA, while Vi is rolling out 5G with 5G-NSA technology.