jio cinema, ipl, 5G and the Surge in Reliance Jio’s Data Consumption Growth 2023
According to the corporation, the rise was driven by things like the Indian Premier League (IPL), the deployment of 5G, and home internet services.
The April–June quarter had a seven-quarter surge in per capita data consumption on Reliance Jio’s network, India’s largest telecom provider by market share.
According to the corporation, the rise was driven by things like the Indian Premier League (IPL), the deployment of 5G, and home internet services.
The average monthly data use per user on the Jio network increased 7.8% quarter over quarter (QoQ) to 24.9 GB in the April to June quarter. On a year-over-year (YoY) basis, Jio’s network saw a 20% growth in per-person data usage. The company’s per-person data use increased by 3.1% to 23.1 GB from January through March.
“The monthly data traffic this quarter exceeded 11 exabytes for the whole quarter and exceeded 33. According to Anshuman Thakur, head of strategy at Reliance Jio, “This was a result of several factors, including the adoption of 5G, which is now evident on the network, the acceleration of fibre-to-the-home, as well as other events, like the IPL, which resulted in a significant increase in network data consumption.
He said that they are “well prepared for data traffic growing much more in the quarters to come” and stated that they are “continuing to build capacity in the network both through the 5G expansion”.
While FIFA and Women’s IPL streaming on Jio Cinema served as the growth catalyst for data consumption, Jio had approximately 32 million concurrent viewers watch Men’s IPL at its peak, with more than 17 billion streams supplied across the season.
According to the firm, 160 billion minutes were watched when the IPL was streamed on Jio Cinema.
Before the April-June quarter, the July-September quarter of FY22, we had a 12.8% QoQ increase in Reliance Jio’s per-person data consumption to 17.6 GB. The main drivers of growth were:
Businesses’ transition to work-from-home arrangements during COVID-19.
Increased content consumption by consumers.
An improvement in the subscriber mix.
In the same quarter, the corporation had a net drop in customers of 11 million, mainly due to removing inactive members from its network.
Interestingly, Jio added 9.2 million net subscribers in the April–June quarter, which was the most in the previous four. Increased data usage on Jio’s network resulted from increased subscribers.
The strong rate of customer addition seen by Jio is primarily due to Vodafone Idea’s subscriber attrition.
While the rest of the sector has had a (subscriber) de-growth of almost 3.7%, Jio’s subscriber base has experienced a nearly 7% rise year over year. And if you look at the net port-ins, we were around 2.5 times as many as our closest competition, according to Kiran Thomas, president of Reliance Jio.
“But if you look at even from a retention perspective, and also net port in coming from other operators, all of this is being driven by the superior network quality that is being established through both the 5G and the 4G deployments which are underway,” Thomas continued.
Reliance Jio had 448.5 million overall customers as of the end of June. The corporation claimed it is ahead of schedule concerning completing the 5G deployment. According to Thomas, Our goal is to finish the pan-India deployment by the end of the current calendar year.
Over 115,000 locations with 690,000 5G cells have been installed by Jio so far, covering more than 90% of municipalities.
In the second quarter of 2023, Reliance Jio, India’s leading telecom operator, experienced a surge in data consumption to a 7-quarter high. This spike has been credited to the twin phenomena of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament and the advent of the company’s newly launched 5G services.
The IPL is one of the most significant cricketing events, attracting millions of viewers globally. However, its most significant impact is undeniably within India, where cricket is more than a sport – it’s a national passion. With matches being held throughout the day, many people prefer to stream the games on their mobile devices, leading to a surge in mobile data consumption.
In 2023, the IPL continued attracting enormous viewership numbers, with many tuning in via digital platforms. Reliance Jio, with its extensive reach and affordable data plans, became a preferred choice for millions of Indians wanting to stream the IPL matches live. Consequently, the company witnessed a surge in data usage, with consumption reaching an all-time high in the last seven quarters.
The second key factor behind Jio’s data consumption growth has been introduction of 5G services. Notably, Jio has accomplished a significant milestone by being the first provider to introduce 5G services for commercial use in India. Users can enjoy an unparalleled internet experience with increased network capacity and speed.
The deployment of 5G technology has brought faster download and upload speeds, more stable connections, and lower latency, enhancing the overall user experience. Consumers have been quick to adopt the new technology, leading to an increase in data consumption. More importantly, it has allowed users to stream high-quality video content, such as IPL matches, without any buffering or loss of quality.
Moreover, the emergence of 5G technology has paved the way for novel applications and services like virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), Internet of Things (IoT), and various others. These applications, which require high-speed and reliable internet, have also contributed to the growth in data consumption.
Reliance Jio’s aggressive strategy to bring affordable internet to every corner of India has played a significant role in this data consumption spike. By offering low-cost data plans and a wide variety of digital services, Jio has democratized internet access in India.
The company’s efforts to improve digital infrastructure and its customer-centric approach have resulted in a broad and loyal user base. This foundation enabled the company to capitalize on the IPL’s digital viewership and the 5G launch, propelling it to a seven-quarter high in data consumption.
The surge in data consumption on Reliance Jio’s network, catalyzed by the IPL and the advent of 5G services, is an encouraging indicator of India’s digital growth. The company’s successful 5G rollout and ability to leverage popular events like the IPL will undoubtedly contribute to its future growth.
With the ever-changing digital world and the growing popularity of online events like the IPL, data usage is expected to continue to increase. With 5G services paving the way for more high-bandwidth applications, the future seems bright for telecom operators like Reliance Jio, which are at the forefront of this digital revolution.
