Jio eyes $230 billion global opportunity with 5G, feature phone tech

Published 19 June 2026 · tech

Jio Platforms Ltd is looking to take its homegrown telecom technology beyond India, targeting a $230 billion global market opportunity across 5G networks, fixed wireless

Jio Platforms Ltd is looking to take its homegrown telecom technology beyond India, targeting a $230 billion global market opportunity across 5G networks, fixed wireless access (FWA) and its feature phone operating system, according to its Draft Red Herring Prospectus (DRHP). The company plans to work with international telecom operators through partnerships, technology licensing and managed services arrangements, while also being open to strategic greenfield deployments where needed. The largest is a $145 billion market for fixed wireless access (FWA) broadband, followed by a $70 billion opportunity linked to the global rollout of 5G networks, where Jio can bring in its own 5G stack. Jio Platforms has also identified a $15 billion opportunity from the potential migration of users who remain on 2G services, where it can provide its operating system. Also Read | Jio flags limits to future tariff-led growth ahead of IPO “As of December 2025, ninety-five countries, together accounting for approximately 664 million households, continue to report fixed broadband penetration levels below 50%, with only around 132 million households connected,” Jio said in its DRHP.

It added that a managed services framework for the FWA stack can enable Jio to make a low-friction entry into international markets by providing full-stack FWA connectivity solutions, spanning hardware and software, to global digital connectivity providers. Along with its 5G FWA service, Jio is also hopeful about an export opportunity for unlicensed band radio (UBR)-based FWA to help operators expand broadband coverage more quickly and at lower cost. On the global 5G opportunity, Jio said about 2.3 billion consumers are served by operators that have yet to commercially launch 5G. The company plans to market its end-to-end 5G technology stack, including network software and operational systems, to telecom operators seeking to upgrade their networks. As of March 2026, the company had 268.5 million 5G subscribers, making it the largest 5G operator outside China by customer base. Its JioAirFiber service had 12.9 million users, making it one of the world's largest fixed wireless access deployments outside China.

Tapping the 2G-to-4G shift With regard to 2G-to-4G/5 G migrations worldwide, Jio said that 729 million customers continue to use 2G handsets despite having near-universal access to 4G (and even 5G in major countries) as of December 2025. The company already offers JioBharat 4G feature phones in India that run its own JioBharat OS. The same was launched by Jio to migrate 2G users in the country to 4G at a lower cost. “The addressable market for Jio would be a portion of this revenue for offering the OS and platform to enable this transition, while the hardware revenue would be retained by the hardware OEM,” it said. Beyond one-time device revenue as an OS provider, additional monetisation avenues for Jio would include licensing device reference designs, monetising embedded media and digital services platforms, and participating in other ongoing revenue streams with digital connectivity providers, the company added.