Telecommunications: Follow one offering through the chain
Mobile, fibre, subsea cable and satellite operators carrying voice and data
Follow one offering through the chain
A Jio 5G call from your phone
Follow one 5G call from the spectrum auction and the radio vendors to the tower, the network and the recharge that pays for it.
Airwaves bought at auction
₹88,078crJio's 2022 spectrum billThe call rides on radio spectrum that only the state can license. In the 2022 auction run by the Department of Telecommunications, operators bid about ₹1.50 lakh crore (₹1,50,173 crore) in all, and Reliance Jio was the biggest bidder, committing ₹88,078 crore for 24,740 MHz across several bands, paid in instalments over the following years.1
Constraint Spectrum is finite and sold only by the state; the 2022 auction alone raised about ₹1.50 lakh crore from operators. Public administration, defence and securityOne global rulebook for 5G
5.8 bnunique mobile subscribers worldwide, 2025Jio's network and the phone in your hand follow the same 3GPP 5G standards, which is why a handset made anywhere works on an Indian network. Specifications are written in a few global forums, India's TSDSI among them, and phone makers pay royalties on standard-essential patents. Those shared rules connected 5.8 billion unique mobile subscribers, about 70% of people, in 2025.7
Constraint Essential patents sit with a small group of mostly foreign firms, so Indian device makers pay royalties they cannot avoid. Education and researchProfessional servicesRadios from a handful of vendors
96%top five vendors' radio shareIn 2022 Jio signed multi-year deals with Ericsson and Nokia for its 5G radios, antennas and baseband units, alongside routers and optical gear for its backbone. The radio market is tightly held: the top five vendors had 96% of macro radio sales in 2025 to date, Dell'Oro said, and Huawei and Ericsson together nearly two-thirds.8,2,3
Constraint With Chinese vendors effectively excluded from Indian 5G under trusted-source rules, operators have two or three choices, and amplifier chips need gallium. Ga GalliumREE Rare earthsCu CopperAl AluminiumPTFE Fluoropolymers (PTFE, PVDF)Computers and electronicsSemiconductorsSoftware and IT servicesHalf a million 5G sites
521,7295G base stations in India, Jan 2026The radios hang on towers and rooftops with batteries, power cabinets and backup generators, often owned by tower companies that rent space to several operators; Indus Towers alone owned about 2.6 lakh macro towers in December 2025. By the end of January 2026 India had 521,729 5G base stations, according to the Department of Telecommunications.4
Constraint Each site needs round-the-clock power, so grid outages mean batteries and diesel gensets, plus local permits for every new mast. St SteelZn ZincPb LeadLi LithiumICE Internal combustion engines and gensetsConstruction and infrastructureElectrical equipmentMetal productsJio carries the call
300 mnJio 5G users, Sep 2026Jio runs the network, carrying the call as data over its 5G radio and fibre backbone and handing it to other operators when needed. At the end of September 2026 it had 542.4 million customers, 300 million of them on 5G, each using about 44.2 GB of mobile data a month, while Jio Platforms reported consolidated revenue from operations of ₹40,475 crore for the quarter.6,5
Constraint India had 1,348 million telephone subscribers in June 2026, and Jio and Airtel held about 84% of broadband (calculated). Dist Distribution grids, mini-grids and interconnectorsLFP Lithium iron phosphate batteriesICE Internal combustion engines and gensetsDC Data centresComputers and electronicsElectrical equipmentData centres and cloudThe recharge that pays for it
₹218.8Jio monthly ARPU, Q2 FY27The call is paid for by a prepaid recharge, often bought through payment apps such as PhonePe and Paytm over UPI, or at a local shop that earns a commission. Jio's average revenue per user was ₹218.8 a month in July to September 2026, up 3.5% on a year earlier, the number investors watch for pricing power.6
Constraint Tariffs remain low, so operators need rising ARPU to repay spectrum and fund 5G; a 3.5% yearly rise is modest. Wholesale and retail tradeFinance: banking, insurance, marketsWhat the chain shows
India now runs one of the world's largest 5G networks, but the radio gear, chips and essential patents behind each call still come mostly from abroad.
Sources
- 5G spectrum auction: Jio top bidder with 24,740 MHz, Airtel 19,867 MHz Business Today, 2022
- RAN market stabilized in 2025 Dell'Oro Group, 2026
- Dell'Oro says Huawei and Ericsson have nearly two-thirds of RAN market share Fierce Network, 2025
- India's 5G network expansion: new 5G BTS in January 2026 (DoT data) TelecomTalk, 2026
- Highlights of telecom subscription data as on 30 June 2026 (Press Release No. 104/2026) Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, 2026
- Jio Platforms Q2 profit rises 14% YoY to Rs 8,387 cr, revenue up 11% Inc42, 2026
- The Mobile Economy 2026 GSMA Intelligence, 2026
- Nokia, Ericsson announce Jio 5G SA deals Light Reading, 2022