Could there possibly be a better time to be CMD of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) than right now? Under a new government that has unleashed a tidal wave of energy and enthusiasm about developing India? For Anupam Shrivastava, the excitement in the air is palpable, particularly among people working in his sector.
“Finally, there is some momentum. So much is being talked about – mobile banking, digital India, smart cities. And this development activity encompasses the rural population too, which is very important. We cannot progress as a small group of people. We have to take the whole country along,” he says.
He is keenly aware that much lost time has to be made up, but is confident that this government will keep its eye on the ball. “Everything is aligned; people are thinking and talking of the same objectives. We have never seen this kind of direction and political will before. Who used to talk about smart cities? Who talked about Digital India? Who talked about Make in India? Only when you start talking about something will action follow,” he says.
Shrivastava, who was appointed chairman and managing director of the state-owned BSNL in January this year, has a hugely ambitious project on his hands – the government’s National Optical Fibre Network (NOFN) project to connect 250,000 panchayats with telecom services, including high speed broadband. The company is laying optical fibre from the block to the panchayat. This network can be used by any private telecom operator. It will not be just for BSNL.
Rolling out the NOFN is not a job for the fainthearted. But BSNL has been working at a scorching pace and will have connected some 20,000 panchayats by the end of March. The whole project has to be finished in a year’s time.
If it’s steaming ahead, it’s partly because BSNL got the foundations right, such as opting for backward integration by taking up six of its factories and turning them into massive plants to manufacture the PLB pipes used for the network. “We had the factories, the licences, the power supply. All we needed were the machines to make the pipes. We got private companies to install the equipment and we were in business. The accelerator is right down to the ground now,” says Shrivastava.
One challenge has been the shortage of contractors to do the work. Most are small contractors who need a steady flow of funds reaching them to ensure their productivity is not affected. “We made sure the funds were organised so that the moment a job was done, the contractor was paid,” says Shrivastava.
Other possible complications such as right of way were sorted out well in advance because the central government had an agreement with the state governments that they would handle such issues – involving a nightmarish multiplicity of agencies – and ensure smooth progress.
Shrivastava says BSNL is using the latest technology to lay the optical fibre network, obviating the need to dig up the whole country, which would not have been a pretty sight. “We have gone for a special mechanism in urban areas where we don’t dig the road; we just dig in one place and use a machine to pull the pipe to the other end. It’s called horizontal directional drilling, or HDD, and that’s why you don’t see too many dug-up places – except in rural areas where the old method is used.”
As part of its mission to connect all Indians, BSNL is also building mobile towers, powered by solar energy, in Naxal-affected areas. Since the optical cable is under the ground, Naxalites cannot do the kind of damage to it as they do to overhead electricity cables. Shrivastava hopes that, notwithstanding reports of one or two towers being blown to pieces in Chhattisgarh, Naxalites will not target these towers. “We plan to put up almost 1,900 mobile towers in Naxal-affected areas and have identified the contractors who will do the work. These companies will also be told to maintain the infrastructure for five years, not just install the towers and leave,” he says.
Prior to taking over as CMD, Shrivastava was director on the BSNL board for mobile services and before that served as senior general manager, Ajmer TD, where he paid special attention to the sales and marketing of telecom products, which resulted in the physical growth of connections across segments and increased revenue. In fact, Ajmer was chosen for the NOFN pilot project two years ago and was successfully completed ahead of target. Thirty panchayats were connected in just six weeks instead of the two-month target.
“In the villages in Ajmer, I saw people getting so excited about the internet. Young men may not have a smart shirt or shoes but they often have a Facebook account. I saw sarpanches sitting on their charpoys surfing the net on their laptops. It was exciting to see all this because it gave me a glimpse of what rural India could be,” he says.
Shrivastava’s contribution, not just to things like this pilot project, but to providing quality service to BSNL customers has been widely acknowledged through his striving to achieve benchmarks prescribed by TRAI on various service parameters.
Shrivastava also worked as general manager in Jodhpur, where a record number of mobile and landline connections were provided, with a special emphasis on the data and broadband business. Such was BSNL’s reputation after it was allowed to enter the mobile telephony space in 2000, that law and order would be disrupted on the occasions when the company distributed mobile SIMs.
He is not joking when he says this. The company’s mobile service was regarded as one of the best. “During the period 2002-04, people used to form lines for a SIM. We used to first inform the Jodhpur police to make sure they were around to stop any riots. There was a lot of faith in BSNL. Our equipment quality was excellent. And don’t forget, we were the ones who brought the tariff down from around Rs 10 per minute to one rupee,” he recalls.
Shrivastava enjoyed his 11 years in Rajasthan. He also had a great time in Harare, Zimbabwe, where he was posted while representing TCIL as task force leader to upgrade the country’s telecom services. Due to his hard work and coordination skills, the fault rate was drastically curtailed, which was well appreciated by PTC Zimbabwe as well as the TCIL management.
The first thought that struck him and his family on arriving in Zimbabwe was: “Where did India go wrong?” The reason was that Zimbabwe in those days, in 1995, boasted the facilities of a first world country with the culture of traditional Africa.
As it negotiated the transition from white rule to black rule, Zimbabwe was a fascinating place to be in for Shrivastava, his wife and two young sons. He calls this time as the “best five years” of his life: stimulating work and responsibility in the office and a sprawling house with a swimming pool and a small army of retainers at home. When he returned to India, it was a bit of a culture shock to go from peaceful Harare to the insurgency-afflicted Northeast. But he made the most of it in the two years that he was there, as he has during all his postings in different parts of the country. He loves exploring the country and review meetings and inspections allow him considerable opportunity to do so.
Shrivastava joined the BSNL corporate office as director in 2013. He is a 1981 batch officer of the Indian Telecom Service with three decades of experience. Since his father was an engineer in Bhopal, he and his two brothers all opted for similar paths, with Shrivastava studying electronics and communications.
He tells the story of his father who, on retiring as a civil engineer in 1989, decided to study law. Not only did he study it, he also practised it. Not only did he have clients, he made more money than he had ever made during his earlier career.
“He was never dependent on anyone. On Holi and Diwali, it was he who gave gifts, not the other way around. He said he could never sit idle, which is why he kept on working as a lawyer. He has some health difficulties at present, now that he is 84, but the moment he’s better, he says he will be back at work.”
Shrivastava is excited by the plan to create Wi-Fi hotspots in every nook and cranny of the country. The first one, on the ghats of Varanasi, was launched last month and the plan is to connect them with BSNL mobiles. What he wants to do is recover the commanding position that BSNL used to enjoy as the most trusted telecom brand in the country. “We used to be the number one operator. We peaked around 2007 and then faltered, for various reasons. But now that we are entering another phase – the phase of data rather than voice – we are very bullish about becoming the most trusted data player in the country. If we can converge our landline assets with our mobile assets, we can emerge as a very strong data player. If we play our cards right, we can do it,” he says.