Stiff competition from older and more experienced players notwithstanding, Amaresh Kumar, chief product officer at Uninor, is confident that the company is on the fast track to achieving its targets. “Can a greenfield mobile operation competing in the world’s toughest telecom market break even in three years of service launch? Yes, it can. We aim to break-even operationally by 2013 and are well on our way to meeting this target,” he says confidently.
Kumar has a sound understanding of the market, with over 15 years of experience in the telecom sector, and a simple marketing strategy. “Devising a value-driven yet sustainable price structure has helped us tackle the hypercompetition in this market,” he says.
Kumar has a degree in electronics engineering from the Muzaffarpur Institute of Technology and an MBA from the Birla Institute of Management Technology. After obtaining an MBA, Kumar entered the telecom sector in 1996. He worked with Koshika Telecom, Escotel, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications and Etisalat, before joining Uninor. Kumar has varied experience, from sales and marketing to circle- and national-level positions. His current position at Uninor requires him to oversee a host of activities, including customer acquisition, life cycle management, value-added service content and revenue generated from the service, as well as roaming and long distance operations.
To carry out his responsibilities well, he follows a team-centric style of management. “I believe in team play and have always encouraged my teammates to take quick and bold decisions, accepting the fact that it can go wrong very often,” Kumar says.
His considerable work experience comes in handy too. For instance, his assignment as national head of prepaid acquisitions at Bharti Airtel gave him hands-on experience of the prepaid market and helped him gain expertise in customer acquisition, revenue enhancement, product development, customer segmentation and brand building.
Going forward, he says the main challenge before him is to ensure that the company registers sustained revenue growth, especially given the cut-throat competition in the sector. He is, however, satisfied with Uninor’s progress so far. “The current trends reflect that the market is responding favourably to our product offerings. This gives us confidence that we are moving in the right direction,” he says.
Kumar keeps himself busy out of the boardroom as well. In his spare time, he enjoys travelling, especially to hill stations, and listening to music (he is a big fan of Jagjit Singh’s ghazals). His favourite movies are Remember the Titans and Taken, and his favourite book is The Alchemist.