Broadband
RJIL issues INR 2,000 crore 5-year NCDs
MUMBAI: Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited (RJIL), a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), today issued INR 2,000 crore of 5 year Non-Convertible Debentures (NCDs), bearing a coupon of 8.32% per annum, payable annually. The issue has been assigned a rating of AAA by CRISIL and ICRA. The proceeds of the issuance shall be utilized by RJIL for rolling out a state-of-the-art digital services business in India.
RJIL is the first issuer outside the financial services industry in India, to raise funds digitally through the EBP route. This is also the largest debt issuance in the Indian market by any issuer since the electronic bidding platform has been mandated by SEBI for private placement of debt, effective 1st July this year.
The transaction was fully subscribed within minutes of opening and was eventually over-subscribed with a total book size in excess of INR 3500 crores, Reliance Jio said. Key investors include the prominent asset management companies and banks.
“We are overwhelmed by the response that we have received for our maiden issuance on the BSE-BOND platform. It reinforces the faith investors have in our next generation digital services business. The launch of the EBP platform is a significant step towards the development of market infrastructure for Indian Corporate Bond market. It will make the debt issuance process significantly more smooth and transparent for issuers as well as investors” said Soumyo Dutta, Treasurer, Reliance Industries Limited.
Broadband
Airtel and Jio surge ahead as Vodafone Idea and BSNL lose subscribers in December
India’s mobile base rises in December, but gains skewed towards the top two operators
NEW DELHI: India’s telecom market ended 2025 with a familiar split: the leaders sprinting ahead, the laggards slipping further. Fresh data from the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) show Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio adding millions of wireless users in December, while Vodafone Idea and state-run BSNL continued to bleed subscribers.
India’s overall telephone subscriber base, wireless and wireline, climbed to 1.306 billion in December 2025, a monthly rise of 0.66 per cent. Growth was driven largely by wireless, which accounted for the bulk of new additions.
Bharti Airtel added 5.42 million wireless subscribers during the month, the biggest net gain among operators. Reliance Jio followed with roughly 2.96 million additions. Their gains were spread across multiple licensed service areas, underscoring broad-based momentum.
The story was starkly different for their rivals. Vodafone Idea recorded a net loss of about 9.4 lakh wireless subscribers, extending a run of monthly erosion. BSNL also saw its base shrink by around 2.06 lakh users. Despite marginal gains in a few circles, the PSU’s overall wireless base continued to contract.
Taken together, net wireless (mobile) additions across operators stood at 7.23 million in December.
Wireless subscribers, including mobile and fixed wireless access (FWA), rose to 1.258 billion, a net monthly increase of 8.21 million. Wireless tele-density improved to 88.41 per cent, though the urban–rural divide remained wide: urban tele-density at 140.66 per cent versus 59.07 per cent in rural areas.
The wireline segment posted modest growth. Subscribers increased from 47.05 million in November to 47.37 million in December, a 0.68 per cent monthly rise. Urban areas continued to dominate, while rural wireline tele-density stayed low.
Broadband crossed a symbolic milestone, with total subscribers topping one billion to reach 1,007.35 million by December-end. Mobile wireless broadband remained the primary access mode. In fixed wireless access, 5G FWA subscribers grew 5.59 per cent month on month, signalling gradual uptake of next-generation services.
Yet churn remains high. TRAI noted that about 16.12 million subscribers submitted mobile number portability requests in December alone.
The scoreboard is clear: scale is breeding more scale at the top, while smaller players struggle to hold ground. In India’s brutally competitive telecom arena, December’s numbers show a market that is still growing, but not evenly—and momentum, for now, sits firmly with the frontrunners.
