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. 

11 Things Jio did to Indian Telescape; How Others React to Jio

​Reliance Jio came, and broke many rules of Indian telecom but the biggest question is can Jio sustain the hype created by itself? Jio during its journey ongoing, has created many milestones and reshaped the Indian telecom sector which turned out to be offering lowest data price in the world, and removed the un-serious or smaller players from the mobile turf (like RCom, Telenor, Tata Tele, Videocon, Aircel). 

Jio does not aim for becoming a simple mobile service provider, it's a brand focused on digital sector - and the tagline says it all, 'Jio - Digital Life'. 

Telecom Update: Airtel is Ahead of the Curve, PSTN to All-IP Upgrade

When the commercial launch of Jio was announced with a bang, it basically hit all mobile operators of India. Big three of Indian telecom - A-Vo-Id will be hit severely in coming days. However right now Airtel is in the best position among them to fight back to Jio.

1. Pan India LTE presence & 2300MHz in 17 circles 

Airtel has 20MHz x 2300MHz spectrum in 17 circles and in all circles they have complimentary 1800MHz spectrum for LTE roll out.

Vodafone & Idea have no spectrum in 2300MHz and they are rolling out LTE/4G on just 5MHz of 1800MHz band.

2. Airtel will spend less on spectrum in future

With this much of spectrum bank, Airtel will have to spend less in near future to buy out spectrum.

In the upcoming spectrum auction in October this year Vodafone & Idea will shell out money to buy the LTE compatible spectrum. Also they will have to spend a huge to roll out LTE, while Airtel has better LTE coverage than the duo.

3. LTE-A by Airtel 

To counter act Jio, Airtel has launched faster LTE Advanced in Mumbai & Bengaluru which can offer upto 135Mbps downlink. LTE-A is actually a software upgrade for carrier aggregation - 20MHz 2300MHz + 5MHz 1800MHz.

While Vodafone and Idea are away from such things for atleast 1 year. They have to acquire more spectrum in upcoming auction and then they have to deploy the technology and then only they can offer such things.

For Jio carrier aggregation would be easier - they have LTE over 2300/1800/850MHz already and just a click they will begin offering LTE-A in all circles.

PSTN to All-IP Upgrade becomes a Reality

Nokia and Orange Polska had a succesful pilot project to migrate 4,000 subscribers on legacy public switched telephone network (PSTN) to all-IP unified network in a suburban area of Warsaw using Nokia’s PSTN Smart Transform solution. As the officials said, the migration will help to support current and future broadband needs as well as IP-based voice services and significant operational benefits including energy savings and real estate optimization.

This may be helpful for BSNL who is struggling across the country on all turfs - be it landline, wired broadband, or mobile voice & data. 

Jio Can't Have a Cakewalk in the Business, Airtel Keeps Kryptonite Ready!

Jio is probably ironing out all the last moment wrinkles from its 4G & Digital services at this moment, but Jio will not have a cakewalk in Indian telecom once it's launched.

How is Bharti Airtel making its pitch stronger against formidable rivals?

No doubt about the fact that all the major telecom operators are now gearing up for the 4G war. When it comes to India’s top service provider Bharti Airtel, it has not left any stone unturned to brace itself up against its formidable rival Reliance Jio. Project Leap, and 4G launch in every other city are some of the examples, which indicate that it is in no mood to compromise with its numero uno position.