A year after Jio launch, RIL sees more upgrades

Underlying fundamentals gaining strength; Jio phones may add over $1.5 bn to Ebitda

Reliance Industries (RIL) is upbeat about its telecom venture Reliance Jio at the end of its first year of launch. RIL’s investments of over Rs 1,50,000 crore in telecom, seen as a drag on its return ratios earlier, could start bearing fruit earlier than expected, given the response to its services.

Jio has set a record by crossing the 130-million customer mark. Also, rising expectation of a cut in interconnect usage charge (IUC; paid by one operator to another for call termination) and the launch of Jio phones can accrue big gains for RIL.

A cut in IUC would accelerate