This is Part 2 of our four-part series on Jio Platforms, ahead of the mega IPO. Part 1 looked at how Jio is more than a telecom company. This part looks at the technology behind it. Read Part 1 here
Most telecom operators around the world buy their networks from equipment suppliers. Jio built much of its own. That difference is central to how Jio Platforms describes itself, and it is why the company says the traditional line between “telecom” and “technology” no longer applies to its business.
A workforce of engineers
Of Jio’s 27,932 full-time employees, 12,477, or about 45%, work in digital products and technology development. Around 8,156 of them develop digital products and services, while the rest work on network technology engineering. Jio’s current technology priorities include 6G research, AI-driven network automation, cloud-native platforms and new digital services.
7,220 patent applications
As of June 30, 2026, Jio and its subsidiaries had filed 7,220 patent applications across 4G, 5G, 6G, AI-driven network automation and other digital technologies:
- In India: 2,655 applications filed, of which 560 have been granted.
- Abroad: 4,565 applications filed, of which 483 have been granted.
Granted patents span countries including the United States, United Kingdom, Japan, South Korea, China, Brazil and the European Union. In 2025, Jio was the only Indian company among the top 20 global filers in the World Intellectual Property Organization’s international patent rankings. Among the patents it highlights is a system for quantum-inspired processing to manage network resources.
India’s homegrown 5G
Jio built the main components of its 5G network in-house: a core network that combines 4G and 5G, the 5G radio equipment, and the OSS and BSS software that runs network operations, billing and customer management.
According to the Analysys Mason Report, Jio is the only connectivity provider globally with an end-to-end proprietary standalone 5G stack deployed at nationwide scale. This capability made India only the fifth country in the world with indigenous 5G technology.
The rollout set records. Jio launched 5G in October 2022 and deployed more than one million 5G cells within a year. It achieved pan-India coverage in 15 months, the fastest 5G rollout globally, and reached 284.9 million 5G customers in 45 months.
Jio’s 5G is “standalone,” meaning it runs independently of 4G infrastructure. This supports download speeds above 200 Mbps and the low delays needed for cloud gaming and augmented and virtual reality. It also enables network slicing, which divides one physical network into multiple virtual networks, each configured for a specific use such as gaming, IoT, video calls or private enterprise networks. Jio was among the first few operators globally to launch network slicing commercially.
Owning the stack also brings practical savings. By customising its own core, Jio can serve several homes from the same outdoor equipment, which reduces hardware costs.
Broadband through the air
Jio developed a proprietary Unlicensed Band Radio (UBR) technology. It delivers fibre-like broadband of up to 1 Gbps from one point to multiple premises, without laying fibre to each home. Jio was the first company in India to offer fixed wireless broadband using UBR.
The technology powers JioAirFiber, which grew from its launch in September 2023 to 14 million customers by June 2026. That is the largest fixed wireless customer base in India.
Its own operating systems
Jio has developed operating systems for different devices:
- JioBharat OS runs on low-cost chips with minimal memory, which allows entry-level phones to stream video, play music and support UPI payments.
- JioTele OS is an operating system for smart TVs.
- JioReality OS supports augmented and virtual reality applications.
These systems include multilingual and vernacular features designed for Indian users. Jio has also re-engineered several entertainment apps to run on low-specification phones.
A network that manages itself
JioBrain, Jio’s proprietary AI platform, is embedded across its network operations. It handles capacity allocation, fault prediction and resolution, real-time network optimisation, churn prediction, spam detection and anomaly forecasting.
Jio’s entire cell tower network runs on automatic, remote antenna tilt optimisation. Each antenna adjusts itself to balance network load and shape coverage. Jio is working towards Level 4 on the TM Forum’s Autonomous Networks scale, a six-level industry framework in which Level 4 means AI systems can predict, decide and act with minimal human intervention.
The digital twin and JioGridX
Jio has built a digital twin of its network: a virtual 3D replica of towers, equipment, fibre and the buildings in its coverage areas. It is used to assess coverage in real time, plan rollouts and remotely guide engineers during installations. The system can show, floor by floor within an apartment building, whether a broadband connection is feasible, planned or not yet possible.
JioGridX maps network operations across India in real time. It records 82 parameters at any given location, including speed, coverage and user traffic, and automatically issues work orders to field teams and the network operations centre.
Efficiency at scale
All this technology shows up in the efficiency numbers:
- Data traffic grew from 148.5 billion GB in Fiscal 2024 to 241.4 billion GB in Fiscal 2026, a compound annual growth rate of 27.5%.
- Energy use was 0.06 kWh per GB in Fiscal 2025, about 22% of the global average of 0.27 kWh per GB.
- Cost per GB of carrying data is below the industry average, according to the Analysys Mason Report.
Did you know?
- Jio carried the largest volume of VoLTE (voice over 4G) traffic in the world as of March 2026.
- Its mobile broadband speeds have been more than double the industry average for three consecutive years.
- It offers enterprises a quantum-safe network with zero-trust access controls.
- 84% of customer service requests are handled through self-service or AI-assisted workflows.
- Over 100 edge nodes within its network cache content locally to handle traffic peaks during events such as the IPL.
In Part 3, we look at how this technology reaches consumers and businesses across India.
