Jio held 79% of India’s advanced FWA market in Q1 FY2027

Jio Platforms held 78.62% of India’s advanced fixed-wireless access, or FWA, market in Q1 FY2027, serving 14.0 million of 17.9 million customers using 5G or unlicensed-band radio technology. Its lead developed as FWA supplied 9.8 million of the 14.2 million fixed-broadband customers added in FY2026.

Why did Jio lead India’s advanced FWA market?

Jio led India’s advanced FWA market with 14.0 million 5G/unlicensed-band radio, or UBR, FWA customers in Q1 FY2027, compared with 3.8 million for Bharti Airtel. FWA is fixed broadband delivered wirelessly rather than through a last-mile fibre cable, while UBR refers to unlicensed-band radio technology. The 17.9 million-customer 5G/UBR FWA segment represented 27.05% of India’s 66.1 million fixed-broadband customers in Q1 FY2027.

Jio’s 78.62% advanced FWA share increased from 77.49% in FY2026, when it had 12.9 million customers in a 16.6 million-customer segment. Bharti Airtel’s share fell from 22.51% to 21.38% over the same period, although its customer count increased from 3.7 million to 3.8 million. Jio added 1.1 million advanced FWA customers between FY2026 and Q1 FY2027, accounting for most of the segment’s 1.3 million increase.

Jio’s overall fixed-broadband share was lower because fixed broadband includes wired access, other FWA and services supplied by regional internet service providers. Jio had 28.6 million of India’s 66.1 million overall fixed-broadband customers in Q1 FY2027, or 43.32%, while Bharti Airtel had 14.9 million, or 22.61%. The difference shows the concentration was specific to 5G/UBR FWA rather than the full fixed-broadband market.

How has FWA shifted fixed-broadband growth from fibre to wireless?

FWA became the principal source of new fixed-broadband connections in FY2026, providing 9.8 million of 14.2 million additions, or about 69%. In Q1 FY2027, FWA contributed 1.3 million of the 2.5 million additions, or 52%. The change concerns new connections: fibre remained the largest technology in the installed base during FY2026.

India’s fixed-broadband base rose from 19.7 million customers in FY2019 to 63.6 million in FY2026 and 66.1 million in Q1 FY2027. Fibre to the x, or FTTx, increased from 1.4 million homes, representing 6.85% of fixed broadband in FY2019, to 44.0 million homes, or 69.11%, in FY2026. Advanced 5G/UBR FWA had no reported customers in FY2019 but reached 16.6 million customers, or 26.11% of fixed broadband, in FY2026.

The data therefore indicate that FWA has shifted recent additions toward wireless delivery without displacing fibre as the leading installed access technology. FWA can extend high-speed access where last-mile fibre construction takes longer or costs more, according to the source. Continued growth depends on 5G and UBR coverage extending beyond urban areas, where fixed-broadband penetration was about 43% in Q1 FY2027, into rural areas, where penetration was about 7%.

What network assets support Jio’s advanced FWA market position?

Jio’s advanced FWA position is supported by spectrum across low-band, mid-band and millimetre-wave 5G frequencies, standalone 5G and fibre infrastructure. As of June 30, 2026, Jio held 26,800.8MHz of spectrum with an average remaining life of 16.0 years, the largest spectrum bank reported among Indian operators. It was also the only operator reported to hold 700MHz, 3300MHz and 26GHz 5G spectrum across all circles.

Jio was one of two providers with at least 100MHz of contiguous C-band spectrum in every digital-connectivity circle, including 130MHz in eight circles. C-band is mid-band spectrum used to provide 5G capacity, and the source identifies contiguous capacity as necessary for high-capacity FWA deployment. Jio’s 26GHz millimetre-wave spectrum can also support high-capacity FWA, while its 700MHz spectrum supports deeper indoor coverage.

Jio’s standalone, or SA, 5G network operates independently of 4G infrastructure and supports network slicing, which enables differentiated network performance over shared infrastructure. The architecture can allocate performance to FWA during periods of heavy mobile traffic, according to the source. Jio had 284.9 million SA 5G customers as of June 30, 2026, and reported an average 5G speed of 198.9Mbps in Q3 FY2026.

Fibre remains relevant to wireless delivery because it provides backhaul, the links that carry traffic from radio sites to the wider network. Jio had access to more than 1.0 million route kilometres of fibre, or more than 30.0 million fibre-pair kilometres, as of June 30, 2026; over 60% was intracity. The majority of Jio’s towers were fibreised, and the company also offered fixed wireless through proprietary point-to-point UBR technology.

Can Jio retain its lead as fixed broadband expands?

Jio’s lead will depend on whether it continues to add connections faster than competing wired and wireless providers as coverage expands. Jio accounted for 9.6 million of FY2026’s 14.2 million fixed-broadband additions, or 67.56%, and 1.5 million of Q1 FY2027’s 2.5 million additions, or 61.73%. Those addition shares were above Jio’s 43.32% share of the total fixed-broadband base in Q1 FY2027.

The projected market expansion provides the setting for that test. India’s fixed-broadband customer base is projected to rise from 66.1 million in Q1 FY2027 to 150.4 million in FY2031, with household penetration projected to increase from about 21% to about 46%. The source attributes the projection to wider network coverage for FWA-based solutions and improving affordability, particularly in areas outside urban markets.

Jio also had a separate fibre position alongside FWA. It served all 14.6 million of its fixed wired-broadband customers through fibre in Q1 FY2027, equal to 30.54% of India’s 47.7 million fixed-wired customer base. Jio became the first Indian operator to cross 10 million fibre-broadband customers within 51 months of commercial launch, meaning its 14.0 million advanced FWA customers were added alongside an existing fibre operation.

Conclusion

Jio’s 78.62% share of advanced FWA customers in Q1 FY2027 shows that the fastest recent source of fixed-broadband growth was concentrated in one provider. FWA produced about 69% of FY2026 fixed-broadband additions, but FTTx still represented 69.11% of the installed fixed-broadband base in FY2026, making wireless expansion and fibre deployment complementary parts of the market.

The next measure is whether India reaches the projected 150.4 million fixed-broadband customers and about 46% household penetration by FY2031. That projection depends on wider FWA coverage and affordability, while the split between urban penetration of about 43% and rural penetration of about 7% in Q1 FY2027 identifies where further adoption must occur.