Reliance Jio, the second largest mobile operator in India by subscribers, recorded solid financial gains in the first quarter of fiscal 2020 as its mobile user base grew more than 50 per cent from the previous year.

Its net profit for the quarter ending 30 June jumped 45.6 per cent year-on-year to INR8.4 billion ($122 million), with operating revenue increasing 44 per cent to INR138 billion.

The operator, with a 31 per cent market share, added 116 million subs over the past year to end June with 331 million.

ARPU dropped 9.3 per cent year-on-year to INR122, while average data consumption per user rose 7.5 per cent to 11.4GB per month.

Mukesh Ambani, the company’s chairman and MD (pictured), said it started connecting enterprises with its next-gen connectivity offerings on the back of expanding its fibre network across the country.

He noted beta trials of Jio GigaFiber services, which are in the final stages, have been “very successful and the entire bouquet of smart home” services would soon be rolled out to more than 50 million households.

Jio also announced it entered into an agreement with a consortium led by Brookfield Asset Management which will invest INR252 billion to take a 51 per cent stake in its tower unit Reliance Jio Infratel. The transaction is subject to completion of due diligence and the required regulatory approvals, Jio said in a statement.

The second phase of the investment will see the consortium repay INR120 billion to Jio and “certain existing financial liabilities of Reliance Jio Infratel”, besides investing for the tower company’s growth to take full control of the tower arm, The Economic Times reported.