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How can Jio provide a thrust to India at international competitiveness?
Research · July 2020
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How can Jio provide a thrust to India at international competitiveness?
Wasim Rahman
Shailesh J. Mehta School of Management, IIT Bombay
ABSTRACT
Economics defines International competitiveness as a measure of the relative cost of goods/services

from a country. Countries which can produce the same quality of goods or services at a lower cost are
said to be more competitive. Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, popularly known as Jio, is an Indian Telecom
company commercially launched in 2016, which disrupted the Indian mobile operating industry by
providing free 4G and VoLTE services. In just under 3 years of its commercialisation, it was ranked 17th
in Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies list in 2018. In this project, we will focus on how can
Jio help India in improving its international competitiveness at a global scale.
Methodology: We started by doing competitive analysis of Jio at the global level with the largest
telecom firms in the world. We performed a competitive benchmarking of these companies for the last 5
financial years (2015-2020) using Quick-Benchmarking (QBM) method. Criteria of competitiveness used
in QBM are as follows: Net Revenue (billion $), Capital Expenditure (billion $),R&D Expenditure (billion
$), Profit before Tax (billion $), Total Subscribers (million), Operating Income/ PBIDT, PBIDT as % of
Revenue, R&D Expenditure as % of Revenue, Capital Expenditure per user (thousand $), Net Forex
Income (billion $). Based upon this benchmarking we further identified and shortlisted the real
competitors of Jio.
We then identified the trends on key businesses, competitiveness & MoT for Jio & its competitors using
the Elements of Management of Technology (EMOT) Table through which we found out the competitive
strengths of Jio’s competitors. Based upon this, the competitive advantage of Jio was analysed along
with its current weakness using the SWOT analysis. For root cause analysis of these weaknesses of Jio,
we made use of the Ishikawa diagram. We have analysed all these results further using the VRIO chart.
We also interacted with experts working in Jio for gaining invaluable insights about the company.
Findings: We have demonstrated the findings of the project with help of a Strategy Diamond
Framework. It encapsulates which Areas should Jio focus on capitalising along with the proper Staging of
its services. We have highlighted the differentiating factors which can help Jio to become one of the
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telecom giants of the world. Ultimately, we have focused upon the Economic Logic behind its success.
The key takeaways from the project are that Jio must expand into enterprise solutions and B2B domain
in India before its Indian competitors. Jio has the strength of optical fibre which can help it in expanding
into IoT technology given that it already has a huge number of different applications in place. The huge
amount of investment that it has been able to raise in the last 1 year will help it spread its wings at the
global level.
Key Words: Jio, Telecom, Competitiveness, EMOT, Benchmarking, Competitive advantage
Introduction
Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (popularly known as Jio), is an Indian mobile network operator launched
commercially on September 5, 2016. Owned by Reliance Industries, the entry of Jio revolutionised the
telecommunication sector. The company offers voice, data, and messaging services, as well as sells
smartphones and hotspot devices. It primarily serves customers in India. Jio Infocomm has become the
country’s No 1 telecom company by revenue market share. Free voice calls and 4G services cheaper
than 2G and 3G services were the servings of Jio when it started. Apart from capturing the majority of
market share, Jio has bigger plans for the Indian telecom sector and has also been preparing itself for
competing with telecom giants all-round the globe.
Jio has been ranked 17th Fast Company’s 50 most innovative companies list and It has topped the list of
most innovative companies in India. Reliance Jio has built a next-generation broadband infrastructure by
installing over 100,000 new cell towers and laying 155,000 miles of fiber cable. The company filed 192
patents in 2017/18 and 373 in 2016/17 -- it was granted 68 and 60 patents, respectively, in the two
years. The company has got 186 patents granted in the last four years. Over 900 scientists and engineers
are working in the R&D division that has 24 labs in the 1.2 lakh sq. ft. R&D headquarters in Reliance
Corporate Park (RCP), Navi Mumbai. Reliance Jio has filed 54 patents in the last one year, according to
the annual report of parent Reliance Industries, which also said the average data consumption by users
of the newest telecom operator at 10 GB a month per subscriber is the highest per capita usage in the
world.
Apart from providing telecom services, Reliance Jio has been working on rolling out a lot of other
services listed below:
Jio 5G, JioVoWifi, Jio Money, Jio Music, Jio Cinema, Jio TV, Jio Giga TV, Gio Fiber, Jio ERP
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Scenario of Telecom Sector in India
The Telecommunications industry is divided into following subsectors: Infrastructure, Equipment,

Mobile Virtual Network Operators (MNVO), White Space Spectrum, 5G, Telephone service providers and
Broadband.
It is expected that more than 100 companies worldwide will have begun testing private 5G deployments
by the end of 2020, collectively investing a few hundred million dollars in labor and equipment. In
subsequent years, spending on private 5G installations, which may be single-site or spread across
multiple locations, will climb sharply. By 2024, the value of cellular mobile equipment and services for
use in private networks will likely add up to tens of billions of dollars annually. For network equipment
vendors, the private 5G prize is a much-expanded market to sell cellular mobile equipment. One
(admittedly hyperbolic) estimate projects that private wireless networks could eventually account for up
to 14 million cellular base stations, which would be more than double the 7 million base stations
currently operated by the world’s public mobile operators (although the price per site for enterprise
cellular is likely to be lower than for public). 41 Additional revenue opportunities can come from
companies’ needs for service and support to maintain their private 5G networks. Vendors will need to
determine whether to sell directly to companies or to partner with mobile operators, often as part of a
consortium.
100% FDI is allowed in the telecom sector in India (of this up to 49% is allowed through the automatic
route and beyond 49% under government route). There are a lot of opportunities for Reliance Jio to gain
a competitive edge over competitors nationally and also boost its growth in 5G when compared to
operators at a global level.
Criteria Worldwide India
Telephone Subscribers 8.5 Billion 1.17 Billion
Mobile Broadband subscribers 7.7 Billion 0.661 Billion
Gross Revenue (2019-20) $ 2.4 Trillion $ 27.34 Billion
CAGR ~5% ~7.3%
FDI (2019-20) - $ 4.28 Billion
Problem Statement
Reliance Jio started offering its service as recent as 2016. Yet, in a matter of few years it disrupted the
entire Indian Telecom. industry and changed the landscape, emerging itself as a prominent player. It is
now set on a path for global recognition and perhaps in becoming a dominant player in International
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market. What makes Jio different from its global peers that it has reached such heights in a short span of
time?
Do Quick Benchmarking with other suitable global telecom behemoths. Apply qualitative methods for
analysing competitive advantages and disadvantages of Jio and its competitors, such as EMoT and
Critical Success Factors. Delve further for more insights by doing a VRIO analysis. For the weaknesses
that are identified, use Root - Cause analysis for narrowing down the causes of the pain points for Jio.
Finally, by employing Strategic Diamond, make a proposal to Jio about what should be its course so that
it can provide thrust to India in International Competitiveness.
Methods
Firms selected for Quick-Benchmarking: AT&T, Verizon and China Mobile
1. Quick Benchmarking
It is a methodology of comparative analysis of firms based upon the competitiveness criteria. Here, in
our project we have identified the following criteria of competitiveness to benchmark our firm with
respect to the largest telecom firms of the world namely AT&T, Verizon and China Mobile
● Net Revenue (billion $)

● Capital Expenditure (billion $)
● R&D Expenditure (billion $)
● Profit before Tax (billion $)
● Total Subscribers (million)
● Operating Income/ PBIDT
● PBIDT as % of Revenue
● R&D Expenditure
● R&D Expenditure as % of Revenue
● Capital Expenditure per user (thousand $)
● Net Forex Income (billion $)
We have taken the data for the last 5 financial years starting from 2015 to 2020 to benchmark the
companies. The table can be found in the Appendix section.
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2. MoT Benchmarking of the selected companies
Criteria AT&T Verizon China Mobile
Technology How does the The strategy abroad is to Every year Verizon makes its It has adopted the three
Selection company offer on stop predictions for technology strategies of convergence,
Identify user telecommunication trends that are most likely to integration and digitisation,
trends and services to MNCs and select impact our global enterprise making a concerted effort to
adapt? technology accordingly. and government customers devise a holistic operations
model by combining “data
access + applications +
customer benefits”. FIrst focus
is on the home market
Technology Companies AT&T has spent nearly Apart from its in house R&D. China mobile invests heavily on
Transfer invest in 9000Cr INR on R&D. It has Verizon collaborates with its own R&D apart from
concepts collaborated and used several partners abroad to operating its own industrial
developed by technologies of other leverage their platform and research institutes.
their Inhouse companies mostly by hardware, also their •R&D/sales: 6%
R&D or tech acquiring them to develop telecommunication •Operates 3 industrial research
transferred its own solutions infrastructure to provide institutes
from seamless services to its •Patents filed: 10000+
universities or customers. Verizon has
other invested nearly 17 Bn USD in The Group has worked further
acquisitions. 5G infrastructure which on the integrated development
includes several of “network+ cloud+ DICT” for
collaborations this business line, leading to a
further enhancement to market
competitiveness and
contribution to the Group’s
total revenue.
Technology Time taken by The company tests new The company tests new The group tests new
Absorption the company technology by releasing it technology by releasing it to technology by releasing it in the
to roll out a to the customers in small the customers in small home market first.
new regions regions
technology
and test
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Tech. How much AT&T has spent about $4 Verizon has Collaborated The Group has been constantly
Upgradation time and billion to improve its with Nokia and Qualcomm to raising the bar for network
capex does overseas network eg: improve its network capabilities. As of the end of
the company fortifying undersea cables capabilities worldwide and 2019, it has built a total of 4.48
take to and high-speed terrestrial reduce operating costs million base stations for its
upgrade its fiber lines and building data mobile networks, of which,
infrastructure computing centers in 3.09 million were 4G base
Britain, France, Germany stations. In respect of 5G, the
and the Netherlands. Group has proactively driven
5G network development,
building more than 50,000 5G
base stations and providing 5G
commercial services in 50
cities. In these cities, the Group
has completed upgrades and
transformation on NSA in areas
where both 4G and 5G
networks were simultaneously
covered. By doing so, the
Group was able to meet
network capacity needs during
the initial phase of 5G
commercialisation.
New Product How well does The company carefully Verizon carefully studies The Group has stepped up
Development the company studies the demands of its what organizations and efforts to persistently enhance
structure its clients abroad to structure customers actually want products and services. Tariff
products its products and leverages their brand to represent. plans presently on-shelf has
economic conditions And then chalk out a solution been largely simplified and
strategically to develop leading to a befitting rules were made less
infrastructure as well. product. complicated.
About half of AT&T’s sales For Example: organizations The Group has put a focus on
to multinationals involve focus on contextual privacy. customer value and experience,
standard services like the organizations look to change and incorporated new service
transmission of voice calls, their security approach to features into its business model
instant messaging, e-mail, keep personally identifying by considering new elements
data and teleconferencing. data secure. from its new 5G network
service.
The rest comes from more Data privacy remains a key
sophisticated services, like concern for both businesses On top of these were the
network security, remote and individuals. Hence Group’s initiatives on launching
monitoring of factories and Verizon focuses on providing the 5G personal packages and
equipment, cloud Data protection and IT family packages and
computing etc. Hygiene abroad as well implementing the “GoTone
Through-Train” plan
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Tech How The company aims to The company focuses on The Group has persistently
Development frequently become more and more providing IT Hygiene and taken measures to enhance
does the data driven to implement data security, that has led to customer perception. Last year,
company constant changes to its designing technology like by carefully looking into major
innovate in customer service platforms. secure calling and video customer concerns, the Group
the same The company regularly conferencing software. It is has thoroughly analysed the
technology monitors, analyzes and constantly updating them by root causes of complaints and
replaces systems that are closely monitoring examined key factors that
no longer needed enterprises and acting fast. undermined customer
satisfaction and network
The Verizon Innovation quality. It has also scaled up
Centers, located in the efforts to improve the quality
Boston and San Francisco of mobile networks, home
areas, were created to help broadband, corporate
entrepreneurs and inventors dedicated lines and service
connect their new devices platforms and launched
and software to the Verizon thematic campaigns to protect
network. customer interests. As a result,
overall customer satisfaction
has improved.
Tech that the group has been
innovating is
•Virtualized NB-IoT network

•OneNET platform
•NFV and SDN capabilities
•IoT (Largest service provider in
the world)
International How long To keep up with the Since Verizon already has The Group has scaled up efforts
Tech does the new demand, AT&T has been numerous strategic to develop the international
Commercializati product take working on designing its collaborations, the rate at market and to seek more
on to spread in infrastructure in order to which services get investment cooperation
other accommodate new commercialized is faster and opportunities.As for
countries requirements and changes more reliable as the international expansion, the
at the fastest pace by infrastructure required is Group has maintained market
cutting down delivery time almost always already leadership in LTE roaming
of a new app based established coverage and established three
product by 67% and international business brands
significantly reducing costs. of CMLink, iConnect and
Already being present in iSolutions.
190 countries, its tech
commercialisation is
strong.
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Results from the above methodology:
Real International competitors identified from the above analysis are AT&T and Verizon because of the
following reasons:
AT&T Verizon
World's largest communications holding company by Verizon has the strongest market share of the US mobile and
revenue wireless connectivity market
Variety of wired and wireless capabilities Unique business model of offering high quality services at higher
price as a result of its fibre network cables
Caters to both customers and enterprises segments Very high data connection speed and network connectivity
Customers range from large multinationals to small Good distribution between strategic business units: Verizon
businesses. wireless- wireless connectivity part. Verizon Fios- fiber cable
connectivity, Verizon high speed internet provides internet to
offices and residences as well as provides telephony services
through normal cable. Verizon Enterprises-enterprise solutions to
large companies.
Broad portfolio of complementary products and services Industry leader in 5G networks: Verizon has invested nearly 17 Bn
(wireless communications, local exchange services, USD in 5G infrastructure which includes several collaborations
long-distance services, data/broadband and Internet
services, video services, telecommunications equipment,
managed networking, wholesale services, and directory
advertising and publishing)
Extremely capable network capacity, both physical (fiber Significant collaborations: Verizon has Collaborated with Nokia
optics) and wireless (including a growing 3G network) and Qualcomm to improve its network capabilities worldwide and
reduce operating costs
Reliable suppliers – It has a strong base of reliable supplier The Verizon Innovation Centers, located in the Boston and San
of raw material thus enabling the company to overcome any Francisco areas, were created to help entrepreneurs and
supply chain bottlenecks inventors connect their new devices and software to the Verizon
network.
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Continuously upgrading technology. Eg- fortifying undersea Variety of wired and wireless capabilities
cables and high-speed terrestrial fiber lines and building
data computing centers across the globe
Expanding its network across the globe Caters to both customers and enterprises segments
AT&T has strong free cash flows that provide resources in Huge investments in R&D
the hand of the company to expand into new projects
Huge investments in R&D
Technologically advanced service offerings like network

security, remote monitoring of factories and equipment,
cloud computing
We have not included China Mobile as an international competition for Jio because of the following
reasons:
● China mobile so far has restricted itself largely to the domestic market
● Not highly successful at integrating firms with different work culture
● Not any significant collaborations at global level
● Need more investment in new technologies.
● Limited success outside core business – Even though China Mobile Limited is one of the leading
organizations in its industry it has faced challenges in moving to other product segments with its
present culture.
● R&D: They have lagged behind to compete with the world toe-to-toe. Lack of competition is one
of the major reason for the complacency
● Strong anti China sentiment across the world is currently prelevant which will make it difficult
for China Mobile to gain international competitiveness
● It lost 5.6 million users in February 2020 because of the current pandamic, also leading to the
drop in its shares by 2.1% in Hong Kong trading in March 2020
3. Elements of Management of Technology (EMOT)
It is a framework to assess and analyse the ability of a firm or organization to execute relevant key
activities related to technology and innovation from identification, negotiation, selection, transfer,
adoption, adaption,
upgradation, absorption to new product / service / technology development and taking them to relevant
markets including international depending on context.
The firm selected in the second column is the better firm satisfying the criteria as compared to the
competitor firm. The criteria is mentioned in the left-most column, and the corresponding remarks in
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the right-most column.
Element of MoT criteria Firm /Institute Remarks
Technology Selection Verizon Every year Verizon makes its predictions for technology trends
that are most likely to impact our global enterprise and
government customers
Technology Transfer AT&T AT&T has spent nearly 9000Cr INR on R&D. It has collaborated and
used technologies of other companies mostly by acquiring them
to develop its own solutions
Technology Upgradation AT&T AT&T has spent about $4 billion to improve its overseas network
eg: fortifying undersea cables and high-speed terrestrial fiber lines
and building data computing centers in Britain, France, Germany
and the Netherlands.
Technology Absorption AT&T The company tests new technology by releasing it to the
customers in small regions. It is constantly working towards
technology like Data Science & AI, 5G, Open source, etc.
New Product Development AT&T Apart from telecom services, it is also innovating in the field of
Data Science & AI, Open source and software
International Tech AT&T Already being present in 190 countries, its tech commercialization
Commercialisation is strong. It has been working on designing its infrastructure in
order to accommodate new requirements and changes with
respect to different countries.
Tech Development Verizon The Verizon Innovation Centers, located in the Boston and San
Francisco areas, were created to help entrepreneurs and
inventors connect their new devices and software to the Verizon
network and develop new technologies.
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Results of Jio as identified from the above Benchmarkings:
Competitive Advantages Competitive Disadvantages
Huge Subscriber base Very low revenue per user
Better R&D Expenditure as % of Revenue than the Very low Net Forex Income (negative)
competitors
Very low cost to execute & operate fibre optic 4G Low revenue as compared to its international competitors
network per million subscribers
Low cost per patented invention Low R&D expenditure
Huge investments from different sources- over 60,000 As the number of users have increased, the 4G speed has come
crore rupees in the last three months down
Growing community of start-ups working on Late entrant in the market as compared to its international
Jio-services/products related Apps, other technologies competitors
Strategic collaborations with Google to manufacture Network and compatibility issues as it only supports VoLTE
affordable 4G handsets which will run exclusively on Jio which is supported by only the latest mobile devices.
network
Collaboration with Cisco for the automation of complete Major focus till very recent was to gain market share of
lifecycle management of all the building blocks of an customers and not revenue. It has started charging prices very
IP/MPLS backhaul network to minimize human efforts recently.
and error
Jio GenNext platform to interact with startups and Late entrant in the Enterprise services
develop capabilities in AI, robotics, Big Data and IoT
It has teamed up with a group of international telecom Cloud services are not being deployed extensively
service providers, vendors and integrators for the Open
Test and Integration Centre (OTIC) initiative for Operator
Defined Next Generation Radio Access Networks (O-RAN)
architecture and interfaces.
Collaboration with FB for the launch of its new commerce Late entrant in the IoT market as compared to its international
business Jio Mart competitors
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Collaboration with Star to broadcast all the televised It is only targeting small and medium enterprises currently for
cricket matches on JioTV its Enterprise services after failing to woo Apple and Flipkart
Jio Giga Fibre technology on which the Jio DTH will be

launched
Collaboration with Disney to boost its content offerings
Jio Enterprise services which will include

unified communications, cloud services, managed video
conferencing, cybersecurity
Significant Acquisitions: Saavn (music streaming), Haptik

(conversational AI), Embibe (learning and edtech), Reverie
(Indic language software), NowFloats (SaaS for SMEs),
Den Networks and Hathway (cable and broadband),
Radisys (5G and IoT)
With optical fibre in 1,600 towns, a dedicated team of

over 1,000 executives, and a partnership with Microsoft,
it is set to commoditise cloud applications
4. VRIO Analysis
VRIO is an acronym from the initials of the names of the evaluation dimensions: Value, Rareness,
Imitability, Organization. It is used to analyse the firm’s internal resources and capabilities. Valuability
defines whether a resource is valuable for a firm’s competitiveness. Rarity means whether the resource
or capability is differentiated from other firms. Imitability defines whether the resource/capability can
be copied by other firms or not. If it is Yes then it is difficult to imitate by any other firm. Organized
means how well the resource or the capability is being utilised by the organisation. If it is ‘Yes’, then the
organisation is able to utilise the resource at its fullest.
Resource/Capability Valuable Rare Imitability Organised Remarks
5G Yes Yes Yes No Temporary Competitive Advantage
IoT Yes Yes Yes No Temporary Competitive Advantage
R&D Yes Yes Yes No Temporary Competitive Advantage

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Network Quality Yes Yes No No Competitive Parity
Strategic Collaboration Yes Yes Yes Yes Sustainable Competitive Advantage
VoLTe Technology Yes Yes Yes Yes Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Product Variety Yes Yes Yes Yes Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Ability to innovate Yes Yes Yes No Temporary Competitive Advantage
Ability to raise capital Yes Yes Yes No Temporary Competitive Advantage
Customer Experience Yes Yes Yes Yes Sustainable Competitive Advantage
B2B opportunities Yes No No No Competitive Disadvantage
Low cost offerings Yes Yes Yes Yes Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Global Brand Popularity Yes No No No Competitive Disadvantage
Problem Structuring
Findings Reasons
Low Revenue 1. Recently formed company as compared to its competitors

2. Very low B2B offerings as compared to At&t and Verizon
3. New entrant in the IoT market
4. Huge R&D investments and better innovation capabilities by At&t and Verizon as
compared to Jio
5. Enterprise services and solutions not yet offered by Jio
6. Cloud services offered by Jio is still in very nascent stage
7. Free services/ very low cost services offered for capturing the market
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Low Net Forex income 1. Only caters to the Indian market currently
Low R&D investment 1. Recently formed company as compared to its competitors
Lack of B2B solutions for 1. It is only targeting small and medium enterprises currently for its Enterprise services
Enterprises after failing to woo Apple and Flipkart
2. Enterprise services are still under trial
Low internet speed 1. As the number of users have increased, the 4G speed has come down
Network and compatibility 1. It only supports VoLTE which is supported by only the latest mobile devices. Also it only
issues provides 4G services and not 2G/3G services
Root Cause Analysis

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Strategy Diamond for Jio
A Strategy Diamond is a crisp and quick way to plan for future by analysing, summarising and visualizing
the strategies. It has 5 main elements:
● Arena- It is the element which gives answers to the “Where” question. In our case, it means
where should Jio put emphasis on gaining international competitiveness.
● Vehicle- It is the element which answers the “How” question. In this case, we will find out How
Jio can gain international competitive advantage over its competitors. Some examples of
vehicles are acquisitions, joint ventures and strategic collaborations
● Differentiators- This element is very important for gaining edge over the competitors. It is what
differentiates a company from other competitors. In our case, what are the aspects that will
differentiate Jio with respect to its competitors.
● Staging- This defines the time limit and speed of reaching towards our defined goal. In our case
we will find out how time will Jio take to roll out its future service and product offerings.
● Economic Logic- Last but not the least, economic logic is all that a company wants i.e. Profit.
How can the company gain profit? In our case we will explore the tasks that Jio should aim for to
increase its profit.
The Strategy Diamond for Jio is as follows:
Arenas- Some of the Jio offerings are Jio4GVoice, MyJio, JioNews, Jiosaavn, JioHealthHub, JioTV,
JioCinema which it must make use of in its full capacity. Extensive infrastructure deployment with
multiple spectrum bands will give Jio unparalleled network capacity, low latency and high speed. Apart
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from B2C offerings, tapping into the enterprise services and B2B sector will give it a huge boost. Jio’s 4G
coverage will allow it to serve underpenetrated areas and is approaching its target of 99% population
coverage along with IoT technology Also, Jio’s distribution network of over 7,600 Jio Stores (through
Reliance Retail) and over 1 million retail touchpoints will help in serving its expanding customer base.
Vehicles- Jio operates on LTE technology and 4G spectrum across 3 bands which forms the base of high
speed network connectivity. Moreover its Optical Fibre and Infrastructure help it be even more efficient.
Significant Investment from other international firms and Strategic Collaborations with the biggest
companies in the world like FB, Google, Microsoft will help in developing its infrastructure
Huge Research and Development investment will definitely help Jio in developing its technology.
Differentiators- Optical Fibre technology for saving cost and improving speed is one of the major
differentiating factors of Jio. Jio only operates on VoLTE technology which provides better connectivity.
Huge investments from multiple sources will help Jio in improving its infrastructure. Plethora of service
offerings which can be connected through IoT will help Jio capture the market. The coverage is backed
by pan India 4G spectrum across three bands and the best fiber and tower infrastructure in the country,
providing the best network experience and farthest reach. Economic pricing will help it in increasing
customer base.
Staging- Jio must make use of all its service offerings to the fullest. Jio apps have already been in
existence for long. It should start promoting them so that more people can join its network base.
IoT services will take at least 2 years to be fully functional. It is still in the testing phase.
By the end of 2021 Enterprise services will be offered by Jio. Jio Mart will also take at least a year to start
its operation.
Economic Logic- With almost half a billion people as its subscribers, it can start charging them for
services which it has been offering at a very low price. Once people start using its IoT services, revenue
will boost for Jio. Optical Fibre based technology is way too efficient in operation which can help in
saving a significant amount in operating cost. With investment as huge as Rs. 1 lakh crore in the last 9
months, it can capitalise it on a huge level. Jio Mart, DTH, Enterprise solutions coupled with Cloud
services will only help it grow in the long run.
Key Takeaways
The key takeaways from the project are that Jio must expand into enterprise solutions and B2B domain
in India before its Indian competitors. Jio has the strength of optical fibre which can help it in expanding
into IoT technology given that it already has a huge number of different applications in place. The huge
amount of investment that it has been able to raise in the last 1 year will help it spread its wings at the
global level.
Conclusion
Through this paper we have identified the key competitors of Jio at the global level. We have used
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multiple frameworks to benchmark Jio against them. We used the Quick Benchmarking technique to
compare the largest telecom companies of the world with respect to Jio. We further analysed the MoT
factors of these companies for a deeper insight. Then we filtered the real competitors and refined our
list based upon the results of our analysis. We understood the competitive advantages of the
competitors and looked at the reasons for their success. We also analysed the competitive advantages
of Jio which, when utilised at the global scale, can help it become one of the largest telecommunication
companies of the world. We charted out the EMoT table for analysing the competitiveness. Using the
VRIO analysis we were able to gauge the resources and capabilities of Jio. We further developed the
Problem structuring for Jio’s weaknesses and narrowed down the causes of the pain points through
Root- Case analysis. After identifying the root cause of the problems, we came up with a five elements
based Strategy Diamond to analyse, summarise and visualize the strategies.
Appendix
Table for Quick Benchmarking
Financial Year 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020
AT&T
Net Revenue (billion $) 146.800 163.790 160.550 170.810 181.270
Capital Expenditure (billion $) 18.730 21.500 21.600 21.300 23.000
R&D Expenditure (billion $) 1.693 1.649 1.503 1.194 1.280
Profit before Tax (billion $) 20.690 18.610 15.130 24.870 18.460
Total Subscribers (million) 128.640 134.420 141.270 150.252 165.890
Operating Income/ PBIDT 24.780 23.540 19.970 26.090 27.950
PBIDT as % of Revenue 16.880 14.372 12.438 15.274 15.419
R&D Expenditure as % of Revenue 1.153 1.007 0.936 0.699 0.706
Capital Expenditure per user (thousand 0.146 0.160 0.153 0.142 0.139
$)
Net Forex Income (billion $) -1.188 -0.777 0.015 -1.062 0.019
Jio 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020
Capital Expenditure (billion $) - 8.570 7.020 10.000 11.710

18
R&D Expenditure (billion $) - - - - 0.260
Operating Income/ PBIDT ~0 ~0 1.150 1.660 3.090
R&D Expenditure as % of Revenue - - - - 3.355
Capital Expenditure per user - 0.380 0.038 0.033 0.030

(thousand $)
Net Forex Income (billion $) - - -0.002 -0.018 -
Verizon 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020
R&D Expenditure (billion $) - - - 1.300 1.720
R&D Expenditure as % of Revenue - - - 0.993 1.304
Capital Expenditure per user 0.118 0.117 0.115 0.108 0.110

(thousand $)
Net Forex Income (billion $) -0.208 -0.159 0.245 -0.117 0.016
China Mobile 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020
R&D Expenditure (billion $) - - - - -

19
R&D Expenditure as % of Revenue - - - - -
Capital Expenditure per user 0.039 0.031 0.028 0.025 0.027

(thousand $)
Net Forex Income (billion $) 0.085 0.109 -0.103 0.164 0.096
Criteria of Competitiveness 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020
Net Revenue (billion $)
AT&T 146.800 163.790 160.550 170.810 181.270
Jio 0.000 0.000 2.870 5.540 7.750
Verizon 131.620 125.980 126.000 130.860 131.870
China Mobile 107.530 106.610 109.590 111.330 107.930
Total Subscribers (million) 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020
AT&T 128.640 134.420 141.270 150.252 165.890
Jio 0.000 22.560 186.600 306.700 387.500
Verizon 140.100 145.740 150.460 153.971 154.000
China Mobile 826.241 848.898 887.200 925.069 950.277
Revenue per user (thousand $) 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020
AT&T 1.141 1.218 1.136 1.137 1.093
Jio - 0.000 0.015 0.018 0.020
Verizon 0.939 0.864 0.837 0.850 0.856
China Mobile 0.130 0.126 0.124 0.120 0.114
Capital Expenditure (billion $) 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020

20
AT&T 18.730 21.500 21.600 21.300 23.000
Jio - 8.570 7.020 10.000 11.710
Verizon 16.540 17.060 17.250 16.660 17.000
China Mobile 32.170 26.430 24.970 23.420 25.400
Capital Expenditure per user 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020

(thousand $)
AT&T 0.146 0.160 0.153 0.142 0.139
Jio - 0.380 0.038 0.033 0.030
Verizon 0.118 0.117 0.115 0.108 0.110
China Mobile 0.039 0.031 0.028 0.025 0.027
R&D Expenditure (billion $) 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020
AT&T 1.693 1.649 1.503 1.194 1.280
Jio - - - - 0.260
Verizon - - - 1.300 1.720
China Mobile - - - - -
R&D Expenditure as % of Revenue 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020
AT&T 1.153 1.007 0.936 0.699 0.706
Jio - - - - 3.355
Verizon - - - 0.844 1.117
China Mobile - - - - -
Net Forex Income (billion $) 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020
AT&T -1.188 -0.777 0.015 -1.062 0.019
Jio - - -0.002 -0.018 -
Verizon -0.208 -0.159 0.245 -0.117 0.016
China Mobile 0.085 0.109 -0.103 0.164 0.096

21
Ratio of Net Forex Earnings as % of 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020

Net Revenue
AT&T -0.809 -0.474 0.009 -0.622 0.010
Jio - - -0.070 -0.325 -
Verizon -0.158 -0.126 0.194 -0.089 0.012
China Mobile 0.079 0.102 -0.094 0.147 0.089
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How can Jio provide a thrust to India at international competitiveness?

Research · July 2020

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

How can Jio provide a thrust to India at international competitiveness?

Economics defines International competitiveness as a measure of the relative cost of goods/services

Key Words: ​Jio, Telecom, Competitiveness, EMOT, Benchmarking, Competitive advantage

Scenario of Telecom Sector in India

The Telecommunications industry is divided into following subsectors: Infrastructure, Equipment,

Criteria Worldwide India

Telephone Subscribers 8.5 Billion 1.17 Billion

Mobile Broadband subscribers 7.7 Billion 0.661 Billion

Gross Revenue (2019-20) $ 2.4 Trillion $ 27.34 Billion

CAGR ~5% ~7.3%

FDI (2019-20) - $ 4.28 Billion

Firms selected for Quick-Benchmarking: AT&T, Verizon and China Mobile

● Net Revenue (billion $)

2. MoT Benchmarking of the selected companies

Criteria AT&T Verizon China Mobile

•Virtualized NB-IoT network

Results from the above methodology:

Huge investments in R&D

Technologically advanced service offerings like network

3. Elements of Management of Technology (EMOT)

the right-most column.

Element of MoT criteria Firm /Institute Remarks

Results of Jio as identified from the above Benchmarkings:

Competitive Advantages Competitive Disadvantages

Huge Subscriber base Very low revenue per user

Low cost per patented invention Low R&D expenditure

Jio Giga Fibre technology on which the Jio DTH will be

Collaboration with Disney to boost its content offerings

Jio Enterprise services which will include

Significant Acquisitions: Saavn (music streaming), Haptik

With optical fibre in 1,600 towns, a dedicated team of

Resource/Capability Valuable Rare Imitability Organised Remarks

5G Yes Yes Yes No Temporary Competitive Advantage

IoT Yes Yes Yes No Temporary Competitive Advantage

R&D Yes Yes Yes No Temporary Competitive Advantage

Network Quality Yes Yes No No Competitive Parity

Strategic Collaboration Yes Yes Yes Yes Sustainable Competitive Advantage

VoLTe Technology Yes Yes Yes Yes Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Product Variety Yes Yes Yes Yes Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Ability to innovate Yes Yes Yes No Temporary Competitive Advantage

Ability to raise capital Yes Yes Yes No Temporary Competitive Advantage

Customer Experience Yes Yes Yes Yes Sustainable Competitive Advantage

B2B opportunities Yes No No No Competitive Disadvantage

Global Brand Popularity Yes No No No Competitive Disadvantage

Low Revenue 1. Recently formed company as compared to its competitors

Low R&D investment 1. Recently formed company as compared to its competitors

Root Cause Analysis

Strategy Diamond for Jio

The Strategy Diamond for Jio is as follows:

Table for Quick Benchmarking

Financial Year 2015-2016 2016-2017 2017-2018 2018-2019 2019-2020

Net Revenue (billion $) 146.800 163.790 160.550 170.810 181.270

Capital Expenditure (billion $) 18.730 21.500 21.600 21.300 23.000

R&D Expenditure (billion $) 1.693 1.649 1.503 1.194 1.280

Profit before Tax (billion $) 20.690 18.610 15.130 24.870 18.460

Total Subscribers (million) 128.640 134.420 141.270 150.252 165.890

Operating Income/ PBIDT 24.780 23.540 19.970 26.090 27.950

PBIDT as % of Revenue 16.880 14.372 12.438 15.274 15.419

Key Words: Jio, Telecom, Competitiveness, EMOT, Benchmarking, Competitive advantage