Jio Platforms Plans Global Broadband Expansion Using Proprietary Unlicensed Band Radio Tech — October 7, 2026

Jio Platforms is setting its sights on international telecom markets, planning to deploy its proprietary Unlicensed Band Radio (UBR) technology and indigenous network stack to deliver low-cost, high-speed broadband outside India. Rather than deploying capital-intensive physical infrastructure abroad, the digital arm of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is exploring partnerships with overseas telecom operators via managed services, revenue-sharing agreements, and joint ventures across regions including Africa, East Asia, and Europe.

The initiative marks a pivotal milestone in the company’s evolution from being one of the world's largest telecom operators by subscriber volume into a global digital platform and telecom technology vendor.

Leveraging Proprietary UBR Technology

Unlicensed Band Radio (UBR) operates on license-free spectrum bands, such as the 5 GHz band, eliminating spectrum acquisition costs. Jio pioneered point-to-multipoint UBR technology in India to transmit broadband wirelessly from central towers to multiple customer premises, delivering fiber-like symmetric speeds of up to 1 Gbps without the cost and logistical friction of laying physical last-mile fiber cables.

In the domestic market, this approach provided the backbone for the rapid scaling of Jio's Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) and JioAirFiber operations. Supported by UBR, Jio scaled its fixed-broadband customer base to over 27 million connections by March 2026, commanding approximately 43% of the Indian fixed-broadband market. Disclosures indicate that UBR-specific broadband subscribers alone reached around 6.5 million.

The Overseas Export Strategy

Operators in emerging markets across Africa, Latin America, and parts of Asia face structural challenges identical to those Jio navigated in India: high last-mile fiber roll-out costs, fragmented terrain, and high capital constraints.

To capture this opportunity, Jio is unbundling and commercialising its end-to-end technology stack for foreign carriers.

Key elements of Jio's exportable telecom architecture include:

• Proprietary point-to-multipoint UBR wireless transmission hardware and software.
• Cloud-native Radio Access Network (RAN) and 5G core network architectures.
• Automated Operations Support Systems (OSS) and Business Support Systems (BSS) platforms.
• AI-driven autonomous network management and digital service delivery suites.

By packaging these technologies into enterprise and managed service arrangements, Jio aims to compete directly with traditional global telecom equipment vendors and IT system integrators without incurring heavy capital expenditure.

Implications for Indian Investors

For investors tracking Reliance Industries, monetising indigenous intellectual property represents a major shift in the quality of earnings. As Jio moves past the peak capital-expenditure cycle of its pan-India 5G and fiber rollouts, recurring software licencing, enterprise platforms, and international managed-service revenues provide substantial operating leverage.

This transition supports margin expansion, enabling incremental international revenue to flow down to operating profit without corresponding spikes in capital outlays. Furthermore, demonstrating commercial applicability and software export capabilities in overseas markets is expected to strengthen Jio Platforms' valuation narrative as it prepares for its proposed public listing.

Tags: Jio Platforms Reliance Industries Telecom Sector TRAI BSE NSE