iWorld
Jio may use US$4.4bn to lay OFC, expand network to stifle competition
MUMBAI: It’s common knowledge that Reliance Jio, Mukesh Ambani’s telecom venture, is up against incumbent rivals such as Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, and Idea Cellular. Jio closed 2016 with 72.4 million subscribers. Last September, it claimed to be the fastest growing technology operation in the globe after signing up 50 million subs in 83 days.
Ambani has already invested Rs 1,71,000 crore (approx US$25 billion) into Jio to build India’s first fourth-generation (4G)-only infrastructure to provide high-speed internet. He recently announced that Jio will raise another Rs 30,000 crore through a rights issue, which will be used to expand existing network and lay additional optical fibre cable (OFC). OFC is vital for high-speed internet as it joins one telecom tower, transmitting air waves for wireless connectivity, to the other, via cables.
Reliance announced plans for a rights issue of convertible preference shares at Jio to raise US$ 4.4 billion. A part of the funds will be used to continue funding its free internet services, which has been a reason for regulatory tussle with other telecom operators.
Vodafone is fighting a legal case against Jio. Bharti CMD Sunil Mittal said that Jio’s free services started an unfair competition.
Jio has already acquired 72 million subscribers, and is adding six lakh new ones every day, the company says. Jio’s offers set off a price war. Airtel now is offering Rs 9,000 of free 4G data to new subs and has also cut down its data prices by two-thirds. Idea also is offering several schemes to data users.
Jio is getting more subscribers with an introductory and then New Year offer of free services until March. The company also claims the most extensive Indian 4G network which will reach soon 90 per cent population.
iWorld
Meta plans 8,000 layoffs in new AI-led restructuring wave
First phase from May 20 may cut 10 per cent workforce amid AI pivot.
MUMBAI: At Meta, the future may be artificial but the cuts are very real. The social media giant is reportedly preparing a fresh round of layoffs, with an initial wave expected to impact around 8,000 employees as it doubles down on its artificial intelligence ambitions. According to a Reuters report, the first phase of job cuts is slated to begin on May 20, targeting roughly 10 per cent of Meta’s global workforce. With nearly 79,000 employees on its rolls as of December 31, the move marks one of the company’s most significant workforce reductions in recent years.
And this may only be the beginning. Sources indicate that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of the year, although the scale and timing remain fluid, likely to be shaped by how Meta’s AI capabilities evolve in the coming months. Earlier reports had suggested that total cuts in 2026 could reach 20 per cent or more of its workforce.
The restructuring comes as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg continues to steer the company towards an AI-first operating model, committing hundreds of billions of dollars to the transition. Internally, this shift is already visible: teams within Reality Labs have been reorganised, engineers have been moved into a newly formed Applied AI unit, and a Meta Small Business division has been created to align with broader structural changes.
The trend is hardly isolated. Across the tech sector, companies are trimming headcount while investing aggressively in automation. Amazon, for instance, has reportedly cut around 30,000 corporate roles nearly 10 per cent of its white-collar workforce citing efficiency gains driven by AI. Data from Layoffs.fyi shows over 73,000 tech employees have already lost jobs this year, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024.
For Meta, the move echoes its earlier “year of efficiency” in 2022–23, when about 21,000 roles were eliminated amid slowing growth and market pressures. This time, however, the backdrop is different. The company is financially stronger, generating over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year, with shares up 3.68 per cent year-to-date though still below last summer’s peak.
That contrast underlines the shift underway. These layoffs are less about survival and more about reinvention. As Meta restructures itself around AI from autonomous coding agents to advanced machine learning systems, the question is no longer whether the company will change, but how many roles will be left unchanged when it does.
