Mukesh Ambani: 'Jio's pan-India fibre-optic network is long enough to go around Earth over 27 times'

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani

Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani on Monday said that Jio's pan-India fibre-optic network is more than 11 lakh kilometres in length which is long enough to go around Earth over 27 times.

Addressing the conglomerate's annual general meeting, he said, "Let me now talk about Jio's fixed-line network. Its high-quality, redundant and always-available fibre-optic network is the information backbone that carries data traffic from every corner of India, and connects it to the global Internet. Today, Jio's pan-India fibre-optic network is more than 11 lakh kilometres in length – enough to go around planet Earth more than 27 times."

The RIL chairman added that JioFiber is now the top FTTX service provider in the country. "JioFiber is now the number one FTTX service provider in India, with over 7 million connected premises – a feat achieved in less than two years despite Covid lockdowns. Over the past year, we also saw acceleration in the adoption of JioFiber, with two out of every three new customers choosing it."

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But, Mukesh Ambani pointed out that despite this strong growth, India lags behind the rest of the world in fixed broadband services. "With only 20 million connections, India is ranked a lowly 138th in the world in fixed broadband adoption. Unlike in developed countries, a vast majority of our homes, offices and businesses have been deprived of the power of fixed broadband and ubiquitous indoor Wi-Fi," he said.

"This has to change, and change fast. Jio will change this. We will launch India into the Top-10 league in fixed broadband adoption."

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