Reliance Jio is redefining India’s home broadband market, widening its lead through expansion of 5G fixed wireless access (FWA), unified broadband router (UBR) solutions, and sustained investment in last-mile infrastructure. With strong subscriber additions throughout 2025, Jio has strengthened its position as the country’s largest home broadband provider and is laying the foundation for rapid industry growth over the next five years, according to HSBC report.
As of October 2025, Jio’s home broadband subscriber base has surged to 23.6 million, driven by the addition of 7.7 million subscribers year-to-date. This far outpaces Bharti Airtel, which added 3.2 million subscribers during the same period to reach 12.4 million. The acceleration reflects Jio’s strategic focus on hybrid home broadband models that combine fibre, FWA, and UBR technologies to deliver fast and cost-efficient connectivity, Piyush Choudhary, Head of Asia Telecoms at HSBC, said in a recent research note.
Jio AirFiber — a blend of 5G FWA and UBR — has emerged as the strongest driver of growth. AirFiber subscribers climbed to 10.2 million by October 2025, four times Airtel’s 2.5 million. A notable development is the rapid adoption of Jio’s UBR offering, which has grown to 2.8 million subscribers, contributing significantly to the operator’s expanding home footprint. As equipment prices fall and deployment infrastructure strengthens, FWA uptake has accelerated over the last 12 to 15 months, opening new opportunities in previously underserved markets.
In the mobile segment, Jio continues to reinforce its market leadership. October 2025 TRAI data shows that the telecom sector added 1.4 million mobile subscribers month-on-month, with Jio contributing the largest share at 2 million. This pushed Jio’s mobile market share to 41.4 percent. Airtel added 1.3 million subscribers, taking its share to 33.6 percent, while Vodafone Idea lost 2.1 million subscribers, continuing to face customer churn.
The outlook for home broadband in India is highly positive. The home broadband market is expected to expand from around 40 million subscribers in FY24 to 114 million by FY30, a 2.85-times increase. Rising fibre home passes and the rapid scale-up of 5G FWA are key catalysts that are expanding the total addressable market. With home entertainment bundles becoming more content-rich, telecom operators are well positioned to capture a larger share of household digital spending.
Jio and Airtel are expected to remain the primary beneficiaries of this growth wave. By FY30, Jio is projected to capture around 50 percent of the home broadband market, up from 36 percent in FY25, while Airtel’s share is forecast to expand to 26 percent from 21 percent. Additional growth drivers include enterprise connectivity, data centres, JioAICloud, and cloud-powered computing with JioPC.
Jio’s strategic investments in 5G FWA, UBR, and last-mile access have placed it at the centre of India’s home broadband expansion. As demand for high-speed connectivity accelerates across urban and rural regions, Jio is set to drive the next phase of digital adoption in Indian households, shaping how the country consumes broadband and home entertainment in the years ahead.
Baburajan Kizhakedath