NEW DELHI, Jan 19, 2026, 15:36 (IST)
Reliance Jio overtook China Unicom to become the world’s third-largest 5G operator by users, after lifting its base nearly 50% year on year to 253 million at end-2025, GSMA Intelligence data showed. That put it ahead of China Unicom’s 235 million 5G connections; China Telecom had 303.6 million users and market leader China Mobile 636.6 million connections. Reliance said 5G carried 53% of Jio’s traffic in the quarter to Dec. 31 and monthly data use climbed to 40.7GB, as average revenue per user (ARPU) rose to 213.70 rupees and AirFibre, a fixed wireless access service that uses mobile signals to deliver home broadband, more than doubled subscribers to 11.5 million, with Chairman Mukesh Ambani citing “meaningfully increased customer engagement”. (Mobile World Live)
The jump underscores how fast India is now adding 5G users, even as operators in many markets still wrestle with patchy coverage and sluggish take-up. It also hardens the question that hangs over the sector: scale is easy to count; returns are not.
Operators are hunting for ways to monetise 5G beyond faster phone plans, from home broadband to dedicated networks for businesses. In places where data is cheap and competition is relentless, that shift can decide who pays for the next wave of network spending.
Reliance Industries shares fell as much as 2.7% in early trade on Monday after the conglomerate missed third-quarter profit estimates, keeping attention on whether its digital arm can offset slower growth elsewhere. Reliance posted profit of 186.45 billion rupees ($2.06 billion) for the October-December quarter versus an average forecast of 196.44 billion rupees, according to LSEG data. UBS analysts said the earnings mix is tilting toward digital and retail, which could support a higher valuation over time. (Reuters)
Last week, communications minister Jyotiraditya Scindia said India’s 5G user base had topped 400 million, calling it “setting new global benchmarks in scale, speed and digital transformation”. He cited figures that would put India ahead of the United States, the European Union and Japan in 5G users, with China still far ahead. Government statistics put India’s 5G base stations at 518,854 at the end of 2025, up from about 464,990 at the start of the year. (Mobile World Live)
One route to pay for that build-out is fixed wireless access, sold as a home internet substitute. Dell’Oro Group said preliminary data showed total FWA revenue on track to rise 10% in 2025 and forecast spending on related gear — from radio access network (RAN) equipment to customer premises equipment (CPE) such as routers — staying above $10 billion a year through 2029; it sees subscriptions topping 191 million by 2029. Dell’Oro analyst Jeff Heynen said more than 90% of U.S. FWA subscribers are 5G-based and operators are pushing the service “especially as FWA service revenue has boosted overall earnings”. (Mobile World Live)
In Europe, infrastructure firms are also trying to turn 5G build-outs into longer-term contracts, especially through private 5G networks for industrial sites. Boldyn Networks this month put its Italy chief Antonino Ruggiero in charge of Spain as well, with executive Andrew McGrath pointing to his “impressive track record in business development” as the company pushes shared connectivity and private 5G deployments. (Mobile World Live)
China’s operators still dominate by raw numbers, but the pace in India is now showing up in global rankings. For the wider ecosystem — vendors, tower firms, investors — it keeps the spotlight on where the next wave of 5G demand is coming from.
But the bigger 5G base does not automatically mean higher profits. Data use keeps climbing and networks need constant spending to keep speeds up; in the background, fibre rollouts and satellite options could cap how far wireless home broadband can go.
Reliance has been weighing an initial public offering for its digital unit Reliance Jio Platforms this year, a move investors have long flagged as a potential unlock. The company said core earnings from the unit rose 16.4% in the October-December quarter even as the broader group wrestled with weaker oil and gas output and softer retail growth. (Reuters)
