Broadband
NOFN being revamped to improve broadband connectivity, Rs 110,000 crore earned from spectrum auctions: Mukherjee
NEW DELHI: President Pranab Mukherjee today said the architecture and design of the National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN) is being revamped to rapidly take broadband connectivity to Indian villages under Bharat Net.
In his address to the joint sitting of both houses of Parliament on the first day of the Budget Session, the President said, “Transparent and efficient auction of spectrum has fetched highest ever price of about Rupees one lakh ten thousand crore.”
He said policies like Spectrum trading and sharing have been finalised for optimum utilisation of resources.
Mukherjee added that the recent interventions and subsequent rationalisation of duty structure in mobile handset manufacturing industry has led to near doubling of mobile handset production in the current year.
According to Mukherjee, setting up world-class infrastructure for Electronics manufacturing across the country remains a priority for the Government. As many as 29 Electronic Manufacturing Clusters are under development.
The country recorded the highest ever software exports during 2015. “By spreading the network of Common Service Centers and setting up BPOs in small towns and linking land record modernization with the use of space technology, my Government is taking the benefits of Digital India to common citizens. The Digital India Programme will give a big boost to citizen empowerment and knowledge economy,” the President added.
Building upon the success over the past year, the Government’s endeavour is to scale new heights in Space. “Focus will be on completing the constellation of the Indian navigational satellites in 2016 to cater to indigenous navigation and location-based services,” Mukherjee said.
Noting that “radio has once again emerged as the people’s medium,“ Mukherjee said the good response to the successful and transparent bidding for the first batch of private FM Radio for phase III “augurs well for the medium.”
He noted that establishment of new radio stations has received a fresh impetus. The bidding of the first batch of private FM Radio for phase III comprised 135 channels in 69 cities.
The Government had taken several measures to improve the quality of governance. People’s participation in policy making through initiatives like MyGov had taken firm roots, he said, adding that the Government had taken up an initiative for providing 500 e-governance services through Public Private-Partnership in 12 states of the country.
Noting that youth are the future of the country, Mukherjee said ensuring Yuvaon ko Rojgaar through massive employment generation is a top goal for the Government. “We are driving job creation through an integrated set of initiatives including Make in India, Start up India, Mudra, Skill India, etc.”
A series of reforms have been initiated to help convert job seekers into job creators. The Government has launched the Start-Up India campaign, which would deepen, expand and support the innovation eco system in the country.
The Government’s innovative initiatives have helped India jump up 12 places in the latest rankings by the World Bank on Ease of Doing Business. “Notably, the Make in India initiative has achieved a 39 per cent increase in FDI inflow despite an adverse global investment climate.”
Noting that sports is the best way to Swasth India, he said the Government “successfully hosted the 12th South Asian Games from 5 to 16 February, 2016 at Guwahati and Shillong in which more than 3500 sportspersons from all the SAARC countries participated. The games were the biggest ever sporting event in North East India.”
Broadband
Tejas Networks names Arnob Roy as MD and CEO, overhauls top leadership team
The Bengaluru-based telecom gear maker reshuffles its entire top team even as quarterly revenue collapses by 83 per cent
BENGALURU: Tejas Networks is changing the guard at the top, and doing so at speed. The Bengaluru-headquartered telecom equipment maker has elevated Arnob Roy as managing director and chief executive officer, effective April 15, 2026, for a term running through to August 3, 2028, and in the same breath announced new appointments across operations and finance. The timing is pointed: the company is navigating one of the roughest patches in its recent history.
Roy steps up from his role as executive director and chief operating officer, a position he has held since March 2019. He brings more than three decades of experience in the high-technology sector across research and development, operations, and sales. His predecessor, Anand Athreya, resigned last year citing personal reasons and was relieved on June 20, 2025, leaving a gap at the top that has now been formally filled.
The numbers Roy inherits are sobering. Tejas posted a net loss of Rs 211.3 crore in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2026, a near-194 per cent widening year on year from Rs 71.8 crore in the same period a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter collapsed 82.6 per cent year on year to Rs 333 crore, down from Rs 1,907 crore. EBITDA swung to a loss of Rs 118.2 crore against a profit of Rs 121.5 crore a year ago. The culprit is not hard to identify: Tejas has derived the bulk of its revenue from BSNL’s fourth-generation network project, delivered as part of a Tata Consultancy Services-driven consortium, and that roll-out is now winding down.
Roy, speaking during a post-earnings conference call with analysts, was candid about where the company has been. “The BSNL 4G network went live across 100,000 sites. We deployed our largest indigenous router networks in the country through the BSNL MAN network, as well as in the BharatNet Phase 3 network,” he said, adding that Tejas had also successfully rolled out its 400G and 800G DWDM equipment in domestic and international markets, and continued the deployment of what it describes as the world’s largest satellite IoT network through its vehicle tracking system solution.
The pivot to new revenue streams is already under way. Tejas has partnered with Japan’s Rakuten Symphony and NEC Corporation to push deeper into international markets, with several Open Radio Access Network trials ongoing, one of which concluded recently. The company is also diversifying across equipment categories and geographies to sustain momentum as the BSNL chapter closes.
To prosecute that strategy, Roy needs a full team around him. Preetham Uthaiah has been appointed chief operating officer, moving up from his current role as vice president of product management for wireless products at Tejas Networks. Uthaiah brings nearly 30 years of global experience spanning engineering, product management, and business development across India and the United States. Before joining Tejas Networks, he served as executive vice president of product management, marketing, and strategy at Saankhya Labs, and held senior roles at Tech Mahindra on both sides of the Atlantic. He holds an MBA from Arizona State University and a degree in electronics and communications from Karnatak University.
On the finance front, AVS Prasad has been approved as chief financial officer, effective May 16, 2026, succeeding Sumit Dhingra, who has resigned. Prasad, currently serving as finance controller at Tejas Networks, brings over 27 years of experience within the Tata Group across telecom, aerostructures, and defence. A company secretary and cost and management accountant by training, he has spent more than 15 years in senior finance roles including CFO and financial controller positions, with expertise spanning corporate finance, treasury management, regulatory compliance, internal audit, and governance.
New chief executive, new chief operating officer, new chief financial officer — all installed in a single move, at a moment when the company’s largest revenue source is drying up and the next chapter remains unwritten. Tejas Networks has placed its bets. Now it has to deliver.
