The three success enablers of Reliance Jio’s FWA growth

India’s digital revolution is expanding beyond its largest cities. A significant shift is transforming connectivity in small towns and rural areas. At the forefront is Jio AirFiber, redefining home broadband by delivering high-speed 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA)  

India faces a major broadband access gap, with nearly 300 million homes still unconnected to high-speed internet. The key challenge lies in the lack of last-mile fiber infrastructure—particularly in small towns and rural areas, which house nearly 70% of the population. For decades, these areas have been underserved, while demand continues to surge.  

Jio AirFiber tackles this challenge by delivering high-speed broadband through its 5G Standalone network, bypassing the need for fiber and offering fiber-like speeds wirelessly. The solution is built for scale and precision. As Rajeev Saluja, Vice President, 5G Radio, Reliance Jio explains: 

“Our FWA deployments have given us some good insights, but if I have to pick top three, the first and foremost is our 5G standalone deployment coupled with network slicing. It allows us to do very dense FWA deployments without compromising on mobile broadband experience.” 

To enable this, Jio has created a dedicated network slice for AirFiber, which ensures stable performance and prevents congestion across both fixed and mobile services. 

Deployment at this scale demands automation. According to Rajeev Saluja: 

“We do broadband deployment in a fully automated, technology-agnostic manner” 

“We’re not just giving high-speed broadband—we’re delivering a full content ecosystem, which is a huge differentiator,” Rajeev Saluja adds. 

As of March 2025, Jio Airfiber has connected over 5.6 million premises, and growth continues to accelerate.

With a scalable model with the ambition to add 1 million homes monthly, Jio is not only tripling its growth year-on-year but also positioning itself among the fastest-growing FWA operators globally. 

The use of advanced analytics layered on the digital twin platform enables real-time performance management, proactive issue resolution, and personalized customer engagement—backed by AI and Gen-AI. 

“AI is helping us detect fraud, optimize operations, and deliver personalized experiences,” says Rajeev Saluja. "This is just the beginning. AI and Gen-AI will be key pillars in reaching our goal of 100 million homes.”