Broadband
Futures broadband, personalized services: experts
NEW DELHI: Top experts in telecom have forecast that soon converged networks would deliver personalized services like video-on-demand, music-of-choice and financial services to millions of users at affordable prices.
New games would be invented and played by multi-users simultaneously, and home entertainment and entertainment would be recast in so far unthinkable ways, the experts further sketched a picture for the future, while speaking at a session on ‘Access Technologies’ at the 12th Convergence India 2004 that opened in Pragati Maidan here today and also during the inaugural function.
Qualcomm Inc. group president Dr Paul Jacobs said added that technology has helped the common man to access cricket and data networks.
Recollecting a recent trip from Delhi to Agra, he said that while traveling from Delhi to Agra, he stayed ‘connected’ on his laptop all the way.
“Access makes a huge difference in the lives of people. This access to information and communications is an incredible power. So many changes are converging on devices around us. One needs to be an expert in all of these areas to make these changes. I am proud that Qualcomm has been able to
promote this convergence.”
He noted that India was fast moving ahead toward a leadership position in 3G. Pointing out that 3G networks have also converged, Dr Jacobs said, “The punch line today is to get the services rolled out and serve the market. India is poised for growth and is deploying 3G technologies.”
Discussing a vision for the future of telecom Dr Jacobs, Dr Yong-Kyung Lee, president and CEO of Korea Telecom and Dr Neil Ransom, chief technology officer of Alcatel, told the audience that India too would be partnering this global change. Their statement comes in the context of the big thrust in broadband and high-speed Internet that the departments of information technology and communications are planning to introduce in the country.
Telecom and broadcast regulator Telecom regulatory Authority of India (Trai) is also in the final stages of making its recommendations for broadband.
Dr Jacobs pointed out that 100 million people were already using 3G technology. Using Qualcomms Brew technology, globally uniform, but highly personalized killer applications were beginning to be built covering mobile TV, educational programs, traffic views and location information, among
other things.
“Everybody will be able to afford these services,” he assured. The emerging mobile Internet would be sensitive to locality and time, and always-on and always-with-you mode.
Dr Lee said that over 73 per cent of the households in Korea were connected online and 11 million people were using broadband, making Korea the largest broadband user in the world. Whats more cable TV was getting integrated with high-speed Internet to provide maximum coverage and services.
DSL and VDSL are being used for broadband traffic on copper lines, he said, explaining how the next-generation network would provide e-learning, e-health services, etc., on mobile terminals. He also described how new mass games were evolving using broadband mobile and being played in large
stadia.
“India has now taken up the word convergence and is on the road to IT progress. We are here at the show, looking at opportunities to connect with Indian operators,” he said.
According to Dr Neil Ransom, CTO, Alcatel, with the increasing capability of FTTH (fiber-to-the-home), broadband would be covering many services that would be both personalized and affordable.
He said Alcatels technology would provide converged video services.
Earlier, during the inaugural function, while pointing out the relevance of a show like Convergence India, Trai chairman Pradip Baijal said, “I admitted yesterday (at a pre-event function) that I used to have an inferiority complex vis-a-vis China in terms of tele-density and subscriber growth. We are excited about working on broadband. We will soon catch up with other countries as technologies are becoming cheaper and easy to access.”
BSNL CMD V P Sinha touched on the burgeoning telecom subscriber segment, adding that the total subscriber base, currently at 70 million in India, will soon cross the 100-million mark.
Exhibitions India Pvt. Ltd. MD Prem Behl and organizer of the event said, “Over the years, the event has become an annual event where industries and policy makers worldwide gather to frame policies and enhance business opportunities. We look upon BSNL as an institute of change, and as the largest telecom player in India as well as a global player.”
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.
