The festivities marked India’s largest-ever initial public offering (IPO), as Ambani’s Jio Platforms raised $3.2bn in its stock market debut.
asserted
Platforms → mark → debut
The telecoms-to-digital company’s shares surged by a whopping 21 percent on Wednesday, valuing the company at $131.5bn and making it the country’s second most valuable, only behind its parent, Ambani’s Reliance Industries.
asserted
it → surge → parent
The Ambani family’s Jio Platforms counts global tech giants Meta and Google among its major shareholders, following their multibillion-dollar investments in the company in 2020 – and serves more than 530 million customers.
asserted
Platforms → count → customers
But it pulses through every digital dream of India,” said Anant Ambani, the family’s youngest son, who is an additional director on the company’s board, at the celebratory event.
asserted
who → pulse → event
“Today, Jio is shared with India.
asserted
Jio → share → India
So, how did Ambani’s Jio disrupt one of the world’s most competitive telecoms markets – and in the process, help consolidate it into what some observers describe as an oligopoly?
asserted
observers → disrupt → oligopoly
Mukesh Ambani is the richest man in Asia, according to Forbes magazine, with a net worth of $80bn.
uncertain
Ambani → accord → 80bn
In the world’s most populous country – with more than one billion people – some say it is no exaggeration to call India “Ambani’s world”.
asserted
it → say → India
Since inheriting Reliance Industries from his father, Mukesh Ambani, 69, has expanded the conglomerate far beyond its textile and petrochemical roots.
asserted
Ambani → inherit → roots
From food and clothes to fuel, the internet and streaming, the reach of the Ambani family’s business empire extends into nearly every facet of daily life in India.
asserted
reach → extend → India
In October, United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio travelled to India for a two-day visit, during which he toured the Jamnagar refinery complex in Gujarat, owned by Ambani’s Reliance Industries.
asserted
he → travel → Industries
Rubio did not visit New Delhi on that trip and officials were angered by suggestions that ministers should travel to see him instead.
asserted
ministers → visit → him
How did Jio become India’s largest telecoms operator?
asserted
Jio → become → operator
In 2016, while American consumers were paying an average of about $7 per gigabyte of mobile data, Reliance entered the scene in India with Jio, upending one of the biggest telecommunication markets by size, by offering data free for months.
asserted
Reliance → pay → months
Jio crossed 100 million subscribers in its first 170 days in business, a milestone described at the time as the fastest achieved by a mobile operator globally.
asserted
Jio → cross → operator
Those days were notable for the long queues in front of pop-up tents in Indian cities, giving away SIM cards.
asserted
days → pop → cards
Jio’s entry required a total investment commitment of nearly $22.48bn in September 2016, spent on spectrum acquisition, network infrastructure and fibre backhaul.
asserted
entry → require → acquisition
Backed by Reliance’s deep pockets, Jio’s arrival fundamentally changed India’s telecoms market – prepping itself to absorb initial losses in operations in exchange for the prize of accumulating millions of customers.
asserted
arrival → back → customers
Competitors were forced to slash their prices sharply, consumption surged and millions of Indians began accessing the internet on their smartphones.
asserted
millions → force → smartphones
In just three years, Jio had become India’s largest telecom operator by subscriber numbers.
asserted
Jio → become → numbers
In the coming years, Ambani expanded Jio into a digital ecosystem including JioCinema and entertainment for streaming and sporting events, and JioCloud for cloud storage and digital services.
asserted
Ambani → come → storage
Since 2016, when Jio was launched, Ambani’s fortune has grown nearly 3.8 times – with increase of approximately $60bn.
asserted
fortune → launch → 60bn
Jio’s entry triggered a 42.8 percent decline in India’s average telecom revenues per subscriber, from nearly $1.32 in 2016 to $0.75 in 2019, according to a research paper published in ScienceDirect.
uncertain
entry → trigger → ScienceDirect
The researchers believe the scale of this price decline was unprecedented and left India with a highly concentrated telecom market.
asserted
scale → believe → market
In the meantime, seven of the 10 incumbent operators exited the market either due to bankruptcy or merger, notably Aircel, Videocon, Telenor India, Tata Teleservices and Reliance Communications.
asserted
operators → exit → bankruptcy
Reliance Communications, founded by Anil Ambani, Mukesh’s younger brother, suffered severe financial losses and filed for bankruptcy in 2019.
asserted
Communications → found → 2019
The brothers, once joint heirs to their father’s business empire, have had a long and bitter falling-out over the division of the Reliance conglomerate following his death in 2002, with their rivalry playing out for years.
asserted
rivalry → have → years
Today, Jio and Airtel have strengthened their positions, while Vodafone Idea continues to face financial difficulties.
asserted
Idea → strengthen → difficulties
These three operators control more than 92 percent of India’s telecoms market.
asserted
operators → control → market
Researchers found that while consumers benefitted from cheap services during the price war, those benefits declined after the market reconsolidated.
asserted
market → find → war
In July 2024, Jio introduced price increases of approximately 12 to 25 percent across plans and other telecom operators followed suit, also raising tariffs substantially.
asserted
operators → introduce → tariffs
In its IPO disclosures, Jio has noted that further tariff increases may not necessarily translate into higher revenues because consumers could downgrade plans or switch operators.
uncertain
consumers → note → operators
What will Jio and Ambani do next?
asserted
Jio → do → What
Jio is considering deploying a low-Earth-orbit satellite to deliver internet services from space, a venture that would put it in direct competition with Elon Musk’s Starlink, which has been seeking regulatory approval to enter India for years.
asserted
which → consider → years
Reliance Group has also invested in the United States.
asserted
Group → invest → States
Last month, Ambani took State Secretary Marco Rubio to tour the largest oil refinery at the Jamnagar facility, where both discussed processing more Venezuelan oil.
asserted
both → take → oil
Musk, the world’s richest man and also a key ally of US President Donald Trump, recently hit out at Ambani.
asserted
Musk → hit → Ambani
His Starlink space telecommunications firm has struggled for years to secure a licence to operate in India.
asserted
firm → struggle → India
In a series of X posts, Musk accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government of stalling Starlink’s entry to favour market leader Ambani’s telecom firm, Jio.
Musk taunted Ambani directly, addressing him as “Prime Minister Ambani” and asking whether he would “consider allowing Starlink to compete”.
asserted
Starlink → accuse → Ambani
Starlink, Musk wrote, was being blocked by “oligarchs” protecting their “monopolistic chokehold” on Indians.
asserted
Musk → write → Indians
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
