Jio leads India's 5G market in speed and availability: Opensignal report
The Opensignal report confirms that 5G provides "multi-fold" faster download speeds compared to 4G based on data collected through November 2025.
Reliance Jio has emerged as the leader in India's 5G segment, dominating in terms of download speeds, signal availability, and subscriber utilisation, according to the latest report by broadband research firm Opensignal. The report, based on data collected between September 1 and November 30, 2025, highlights that transitioning from 4G to 5G delivers a "multi-fold" increase in download speeds.
- Jio: Recorded a 5G download speed of 199.7 Mbps, making it 11 times faster than its 4G network.
- Airtel: Clocked in at 187.2 Mbps, which is 7 times faster than its 4G speed.
- Vodafone Idea (Vi): Reached 138.1 Mbps, representing a six-fold increase over its 4G performance.
The report emphasises that 5G's true value lies in its reliability: "Across all operators, 5G users experience fewer interruptions and less performance volatility than on 4G".
Availability vs actual utilisation
Opensignal introduced a new metric, "Time on 5G," to measure how often users with 5G devices actually stay connected to a 5G network.
Jio’s high efficiency:
Jio led with a 5G availability of 68.1 per cent, and its users spent 67.3 per cent of their time actively connected to the network. The report attributes this high conversion rate to Jio's Standalone (SA) architecture and the use of the 700 MHz spectrum, which provides deep indoor penetration.
Airtel and Vi Performance:
- Airtel: Despite having a high availability score of 66.6 per cent, users spent only 28 per cent of their time on 5G. This is largely due to its Non-Standalone (NSA) deployment, which relies on a 4G "anchor" for control signaling.
- Vi: Showed 32.5 per cent availability and 9.7 per cent "Time on 5G". Analysts noted this is consistent with a network still in its early stages of deployment.
The future of India’s 5G
With 5G smartphones now available for under Rs 10,000, adoption is accelerating, which will likely increase network stress.
"The next phase of India’s digital journey will be won by operators that can balance scale with consistency," the report concludes, noting that the goal is to deliver a 5G experience that remains reliably "good enough" for everyday use.
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