Jio leads India’s 5G FWA growth as UBR rollout boosts momentum

In October 2025, Reliance Jio, India’s largest telecom provider, added more 5G FWA (fixed-wireless access) users than Airtel. Jio is currently the only operator offering UBR (unlicensed band radio) services, giving it an unchallenged position in that segment. Airtel, by contrast, does not yet provide UBR services and remains limited to FWA offerings.

Airtel is testing UBR deployment, but commercial rollout is not expected in the near future. Reliance Jio also holds the country’s largest home broadband user base and continues to outperform its competitors across both fibre and AirFiber (FWA/UBR) segments.

According to the latest monthly performance data released by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), Jio’s FWA customer base grew from 7.08 million in September 2025 to 7.39 million in October 2025, an increase of 0.31 million users (312,546).

Airtel’s FWA subscriber base rose from 2.31 million to 2.51 million over the same period, an addition of 195,312 users (0.19 million). Although Jio recorded higher absolute growth, Airtel’s month-on-month (MoM) increase was stronger at 8.42%, compared with Jio’s 4.41%.

In the UBR category, Jio’s subscriber base expanded from 2.48 million to 2.83 million, reflecting a monthly increase of 354,755 users (0.35 million) and a growth rate of 14.30% MoM.

Overall, the industry’s combined FWA subscriber base (Airtel and Jio) rose from 9.40 million to 9.91 million, an increase of 507,858 users (0.50 million), translating to 5.40% MoM growth. As Vodafone Idea begins rolling out 5G FWA and Airtel moves towards launching UBR services in the coming months and years, this growth is likely to accelerate further.

For Jio, UBR has offered a strong competitive advantage by underpinning its FWA network and enabling broadband delivery through wireless links rather than fibre. Leveraging UBR has allowed the company to scale its footprint at extraordinary speed, strengthening its broadband business and supporting consistent revenue growth. According to Jefferies, Jio’s Average Revenue Per User (ARPU) is expected to grow at an 11% CAGR to Rs 272 between FY25 and FY28, driven by UBR-led expansion and anticipated tariff hikes.

Unlicensed Band Radio (UBR) enables telecom operators to provide wireless connectivity using unlicensed spectrum, radio frequencies that do not require government licensing fees. This makes it a highly cost-effective option, particularly in regions where deploying traditional wired broadband is too costly or impractical.