Where They Are Now
January 15, 2010
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tele.net revisited some of the people who made a mark in the telecom industry in its early years and were featured in the first few issues of the magazine. Ten years on, most of them are still associated with the sector in one way or the other. Here are 14 prominent personalities of 2000-01...
Dr D.P.S. Seth
Then: Dr D.P.S. Seth was senior deputy director-general in the Department of Telecommunication Services. After Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) was carved out of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) as a corporate entity in October 2000, Seth was appointed as its first CMD. In that role, he was responsible for the introduction of the "low tariff, high traffic" model and was also credited with the concept of unified licensing. In March 2002, he became a full-time member, services and ex-officio secretary to the government in the policy-making apex body of the Telecom Commission, relinquishing his post as CMD of BSNL. Seth joined the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) as a full-time member in March 2003. His tenure with the regulatory authority ended in April 2006.
Now: Seth is now president of IPTV Forum, a non-profit, non-government membership society that has been set up to advocate, enhance and expand broadband technology's potential for value addition.
Shyamal Ghosh
Then: An IAS officer, Shyamal Ghosh was chairman of the Telecom Commission and secretary, DoT in 2000. During his tenure, major reforms in the sector were launched and implemented, culminating in the complete opening up of the sector. Two of Ghosh's biggest achievements were the opening up of national and international long distance services to competition and hiving off DoT's services arm to create a corporate entity, BSNL. He was also the administrator of the Universal Service Obligation Fund.
Now: At present, Ghosh is chairman of the IPTV Forum besides being one of its founding members.
P.S. Saran
Then: P.S. Saran was member, services, with the Telecom Commission and secretary, Department of Telecom Services from 1999 to 2000. He was one of the only officers of the Indian Telecom Services to be awarded the Padma Shri. Following his tenure with the Telecom Commission, Saran joined the ITU-APT Foundation of India where he was the chairperson till his death in October 2009.
Justice S.S. Sodhi
Then: Post his stint as a judge and chief justice at the Allahabad High Court in the early 1990s, Justice S.S. Sodhi became the first chairperson of TRAI following its inception in March 1997. His tenure with the regulatory body ended following its reconstitution in March 2000. He went back to being a practising advocate in the Punjab and Haryana High Court for about 10 years and was also a member of the Punjab Superior Judicial Service.
Now: He is at present a non-executive, independent director at Fortis Healthcare.
Sowmyan Ramakrishnan
Then: Sowmyan Ramakrishnan has been associated with the Tata Group for over three decades. He was managing director of Tata Teleservices Limited (TTSL) between 1999 and 2004 during which period he handled a number of national as well as international projects. In December 2002, he was also appointed director of Hughes Tele.com (now Tata Teleservices [Maharashtra] Limited).
Now: He is currently executive director, finance, of Tata Power Company in addition to being on the boards of several other Tata companies.
Rajeev Chandrasekhar
Then: Rajeev Chandrasekhar founded BPL Mobile (now Loop Mobile), one of the first few private telecom companies in the country. He was actively involved in the development of the Indian telecom sector until 2005 when BPL Mobile was acquired in one of the country's largest merger transactions.
Now: Since July 2005, Chandrasekhar has been chairman and CEO of Jupiter Capital.
He is also a member of the Rajya Sabha where he represents Bengaluru, besides being a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on IT.
S. Rajagopalan
Then: S. Rajagopalan was CMD of Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) from 1998 onwards, where he was largely responsible for modernising the company's services. It was under his leadership that MTNL kickstarted cellular operations and long distance telephony. He was also responsible for the deployment of the intelligent network, making services like managed data networks operational, and digitalising and optimising MTNL's network through new transmission technologies.
Now: Rajagopalan has retired and is settled in Bengaluru.
Asim Ghosh
Then: Asim Ghosh was the man at the helm of Vodafone Essar (earlier branded as Orange, then Hutch) for around 10 years. Ghosh presided over the growth of Hutch from a single-circle operator with only 140,000 subscribers to a pan-Indian player with around 78.6 million subscribers as of July 2009. He was instrumental in helping the company clinch the high profile Vodafone deal. He retired as the CEO of the company in March 2009.
Now: Ghosh continues as a non-executive member on the board of Vodafone Essar. His plans for the future include reading, golf, photography and travel.
T.V. Ramachandran
Then: T.V. Ramachandran was secretary-general of the Cellular Operators Association of India from 1997 onwards. In this capacity, he is credited with aggressively advocating the interests of GSM operators.
Now: Ramachandran is now resident director at Vodafone Essar. He is also founder chairman of the Indian chapter of the worldwide GSM Association, besides being chairman of the International Telecommunication Union's (ITU) Wireless Generalised Processor Sharing (WGPS) group for the Asia-Pacific region. He is also the vice-president of the IPTV Forum.
Prithipal Singh
Then: Prithipal Singh was appointed CMD of BSNL on a permanent basis after being its acting CMD since April 2002. Under his leadership, BSNL doubled the size of its network and established a successful portfolio of consumer brands. He was nominated for a Padma Shri in 2003 for his role as a leader of the state-owned operator. His term ended in December 2003.
Now: Singh is vice-president of the IPTV India Forum and also sits on several boards and committees, including the investment advisory board of Punjab Venture Capital.
Vinod Vaish
Then: Vinod Vaish was chairman, Telecom Commission and secretary, DoT. Following this, he was appointed as a member of the Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal where he remained till 2007.
Now: Vaish is currently chairman of the Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council, at Communication, Multimedia and IT.
Prakash Bajpai
Then: Prakash Bajpai was president and chief operating officer of Hughes Tele.com India in 2000. He was credited with creating India's first broadband network in Maharashtra and Goa. He also successfully completed the country's first telecom IPO, netting Rs 9 billion for the company. He was closely involved in setting up TTSL's telecom business and in establishing its joint venture with AT&T in 2001. Between April 2002 and June 2008, Bajpai was president of Reliance Communications' (RCOM) broadband business.
Now: He resigned from RCOM to start his own venture with the backing of private equity funds and is now CEO of Tikona Digital Network, an innovator of wireless broadband services across the country.
Amitabh Kumar
Then: Amitabh Kumar was CMD of VSNL from July 1998 to June 2001. Under his leadership, VSNL enjoyed numerous successes including the expansion of its network to 15,000 circuits; the setting up of new satellite earth stations and fibre optic systems; gateway digital switches; a $1.03 billion expansion plan during the Ninth Plan; the planning and implementation of email, gateway internet access services and globally managed data services; office automation and internet system, SEA-ME-WE-3 and FLAG undersea fibre optic cable systems, etc. He was also responsible for successfully planning and executing VSNL's $185 million GDR issue in February 1999.
Now: At present, Kumar is head of broadcasting functions for the Zee TV network in India and overseas.
N. Arjun
Then: N. Arjun was CEO of Bharti Telesonic till March 2006 when he was promoted as executive director to lead the enterprise services (carriers) business of the group.
Now: He continues to head the direct-tohome services business as executive director with Bharti Telemedia.
