As multinational public sector organisations go, TCIL is in a league of its own owing to the way it has criss-crossed the globe, supplying world-class technology and Indian expertise in telecom and information technology. TCIL people never rest on their laurels. Vimal Wakhlu, director, technical, for example, is currently busy with an ambitious pan-African e-network project for the Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India. This involves rolling out and running the network and e-services in 47 countries in Africa. About a dozen of India’s top hospitals such as AIIMS, Apollo and Fortis are connected to Africa through this network.

“The TCIL building in New Delhi hosts the data centre hub of this network, which, in turn, is connected on an optical network and a submarine cable system to Dakar, Senegal, in western Africa,” says Wakhlu. “Ensuring the smooth rollout of services is one of the biggest challenges.”

The pan-African e-network also connects five educational institutions – IGNOU, Amity, BITS Pilani, Delhi University and Madras University – to 47 universities of Africa. More than 5,000 students from Africa have registered for various courses including MBA in marketing and international business. Students learn through virtual classroom lectures on the network and can ask questions online. If they miss a lecture, they can access it from the web portal where the entire session is stored. Assignments are submitted online, and there are plans of conducting online examinations in the future.

Wakhlu oversees all technology-related projects as well as the company’s new businesses and technologies. He says that sceptics warned him that the African project would be impossible to accomplish owing to the difficulties of working in the region, getting people to cooperate with the team and dealing with local problems. Wakhlu ploughed on regardless. The network has been working for the past three years and is paying good dividends.

“It has given us a good name too as people come and compliment us and suggest tie-ups with other countries. This was a dream project of our former president, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, so we were excited about it,” he says. “It has been wonderful working with Africans. In Ghana, Ethiopia and Botswana, I loved meeting new people. Nigeria and South Africa proved to be learning experiences.”

The big global projects do not mean that India is being neglected. There is the National Internet Backbone project for Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL); a quality of service check of all the telecom service providers in the west, north and south zones for the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India; and audit programmes for some private telecom service providers, to name only a few.

“One of the main trends I see in telecom is the arrival of LTE Advanced and other 4G technologies. This is going to change the concept of mobile telephony. It would mean smaller base stations, more peer-to-peer communication and fewer towers. Even in rural areas, this paraphernalia of huge tower infrastructure would be a thing of the past,” Wakhlu says.

The rationale, he says, is that such big structures are no longer required as there will be more decentralised and localised networks, which would be connected to the main backbone.

Next-generation networks will take over. All-IP-based networks would become the norm. Even the voice segment, which is currently in a conventional form, will change and switch over to VOIP networks completely.

“As far as the industry is concerned, there will be mergers and acquisitions, as there is not enough space for so many operators. It is not possible for all of them to run their services profitably. Four to five operators are a decent figure for competition but not more than that,” he says.

After 34 years in the sector, Wakhlu has acquired an impressive body of knowledge. Telecom was his first love. It fascinated him the moment he began studying it at college. “It was absorbing to see the way radio waves worked. I assembled my own radio and walkie-talkie as a student and later, also my first PC. So, I guess it was a natural choice for me,” he says.

Wakhlu belongs to Jammu & Kashmir and is a graduate of NIT, Srinagar. He also has an MBA in marketing from IGNOU and is a certified project management professional from PMI, USA. He started his career with NHPC in 1977, followed by a stint with Overseas Communications Services (the erstwhile Videsh Sanchar Nigam Limited [VSNL]) until 1983, and then worked with the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and BSNL.

Wakhlu’s areas of expertise are e-networks, next-generation networks, and mobile and satellite communications including VSAT-based networks, optical communications, Troposcatter communication, data transmission, maritime communications, international telephony and microwave systems.

He took over his current job with TCIL two years ago. Before that, he was working as executive director (TX) in the same company. Throughout his career, he has been lucky to have worked with cutting-edge technologies. For example, in Overseas Communications Services, he was involved in setting up the Troposcatter communication link in 1983, which was the first of its kind between Srinagar in India and Dushanbe in Tajikistan. It was a memorable assignment. He still recalls a major fault, which caused the melting down of the radio components. “Waveguides carried about 20 kW of microwave power, which is a substantial amount. The combiners and waveguides got damaged. Everyone gave up and wanted to ask the Russian engineers to rush in to help. At that point, we took up the challenge. Despite inclement weather in the month of January, we, in collaboration with the Regional Engineering College workshop in Srinagar, got all the units repaired under our supervision. Microwave devices are very delicate; if there is even a slight problem with the finish, it can catch fire. We managed to ensure an effective grinding process. Even the Russian engineers were shocked to see the results. That was my first taste of success,” says  Wakhlu.

It was also a great learning. He was struck by how the Russian team members, even at the chief engineer’s level, always worked with their own hands and never asked anyone for help. They never took weekends off or went on vacation unless the work was completed. They were totally focused and that left an impression on him.

While with DoT in Mumbai, when former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s vision of fully loading the INSAT 1B satellite transponders was being operationalised, he asked a colleague to conduct a test on one of the subsystems. “After an hour, I asked him if he had finished and he replied that he hadn’t even started as there was no worker to carry the meter. I simply carried the meter to the equipment bay. Everyone was taken aback. That was the turning point in the work culture at that station,” he says.

Another satisfying experience, also at DoT, was while handling satellite communications and optic fibre networks. His team was given the task of re-establishing satellite-based regional TV transmission in Kashmir for Doordarshan in 1993. Doordarshan had stopped telecasting national programmes and was airing only local programmes. With militancy raging, it was quite a challenge as there were attempts at sabotage from within.

“Despite that, we managed to complete the project and left the place in time, which was lucky because the next day, there was a rocket attack on the same premises. I was warned a couple of days before to leave, so I thanked God that we could finish our mission in Kashmir and return safely,” he says.

Even at BSNL he was in the vanguard, this time, of mobile phones. Rollouts started when he was general manager, mobile services, Maharashtra, in 2002. BSNL was the fourth operator to enter the space. Within 15 days, it beat rival airtel and in another month, BPL, to become the second largest operator.

“We were on our way to becoming number one, but the then number one operator – Birla AT&T, which later became Idea Cellular – slashed its prices below our level, down to Rs 1.50 per minute. Of course, we gave others good competition,” he says.

Wakhlu grew up amid the picturesque landscape of Kashmir. “I have scaled some of the most exquisite mountain peaks of Kashmir. Some of the expeditions were tough but then, those were learning experiences. They taught me not to give up till you have put in your best.”

One of his favourite pastimes is studying Vedic sciences. “It is my dream to establish a network of Vedic universities that would  enable people research various subjects in the Vedic sciences for the betterment of mankind,” he says.

In fact, he admires Shahnaz Husain for having taken prescriptions from the Atharva Veda for creating her cosmetic products. She appointed Sanskrit pandits who translated the slokas into formulations, and used those in making her beauty products. “She has given multinationals a good run for their money. This concept needs to be applied to other sectors such as energy, water, agriculture, health care and communications,” says Wakhlu. “That is why I feel that greater research in this field would lead to exciting solutions to many modern-day problems.”