New Delhi (PTI): Reliance Jio's 5G services marks the fastest-ever rollout of this scale anywhere in the world, and the company is "on track" to cover the entire country with the ultra high-speed network by December this year, RIL Chairman Mukesh Ambani said on Monday.

JioAirFiber will be launched on Ganesh Chaturthi, September 19, Ambani said at the 46th AGM of Reliance Industries.

Jio customer base has crossed 450 million. Its 5G network covers 96 per cent of towns and the company is on track to cover the entire country by December.

"Jio's overall customer base has now crossed the milestone of 450 million subscribers, reflecting a year-on-year revenue growth of over 20 per cent," he said.

The per-user data consumption on Jio's network has surged, with the average user now consuming over 25 GB every month.

Ambani said that Jio was launched seven years ago with a mission to transform India into a Premier Digital Society, and added "we have invested our heart and soul into building a Digital Public Infrastructure which the entire world has begun to admire." Jio has been the main catalyst of New India's spectacular digital transformation, he asserted.

"Now our ambitions are even higher -- and they go beyond the shores of India, as I shall explain. Let’s first discuss Jio True 5G, our pioneering 5G broadband offering. We began our 5G rollout last October. In just nine months, Jio 5G is already present in over 96 per cent of the census towns of our country," Ambani said.

Jio is on track to cover the entire country by December this year.

With over 50 million 5G customers, Jio is already leading in 5G adoption in India, Ambani said.

"And we are the only company with the capacity to smoothly transition our entire 4G customer base to 5G, with minimal additional capital expenditure. With the growing adoption of Jio 5G, we are also seeing an increasing trend of high-ARPU, post-paid customers choosing Jio as their preferred network," Ambani said.

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Thane (PTI): A 55-year-old tantrik has been arrested for allegedly raping a woman repeatedly on the pretext of solving some domestic problems in Maharashtra's Thane district, police said on Friday.

Based on a complaint, the police on Wednesday arrested the accused, Santosh Poddar alias Vinod Pandit, from the Shanti Nagar area of Mira Road under sections 376(2)(n) (commits rape repeatedly on the same woman), 506 (criminal intimidation) and other relevant provisions of the IPC and the Maharashtra Prevention and Eradication of Human Sacrifice and other Inhuman, Evil and Aghori Practices and Black Magic Act, 2013, an official said.

The accused, who claimed to be a tantrik (sorcerer), operated in the locality and advertised on Facebook, he said.

The victim approached Poddar seeking a solution for some domestic issues, and he allegedly raped her on multiple occasions on the pretext of curing her, the official said.

The accused also shot objectionable videos of her and threatened her, he said.

Fed up with the harassment, the woman approached the police earlier this week, he said, adding that a probe is underway to find out if the accused similarly exploited other women.