Broadband
UN panel: Time for a ‘new deal’ if b’band is to reach everyone
NEW DELHI: The Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development has committed to concrete actions that will spur the roll out of broadband around the world as around five billion people are without mobile broadband access, meaning that the paths to access digital services and applications are currently blocked for much of the world’s population – holding back progress towards the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
In its 2017 Spring Meeting in Hong Kong, SAR China yesterday, participants at the Commission discussed the need to come up with a new deal between all players, with renewed commitment to work towards concrete actions that will effectively connect the unconnected with broadband – especially to support Least Developed Countries. In particular, emphasis was placed on remote and rural areas which represent the biggest challenge and where barriers to access need to be also viewed through the prism of affordability and content, notably local and multi-lingual content.
Broadband Commission Co-Chair, President Paul Kagame underlined that “ICT and broadband are linking everyone and everything for the betterment of economies and societies. We are motivated by wanting to have the global community connected, especially the billions of unconnected. We will succeed when we work together: government, industry and civil society leaders.”
International Telecommunications Union Secretary General Houlin Zhao, who is co-Vice Chair of the Broadband Commission, added, “Our central conviction is that broadband and ICTs are critical if we are to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. ICTs underpin vital achievements and modern services in many sectors, and governments and industry must increasingly work together to create the conditions so badly needed to facilitate the growth of broadband for sustainable development.”
The 2030 Agenda provided the context for discussion. UNESCO DG Irina Bokova, co-Vice Chair of the Broadband Commission, noted, “The framework for all our work is the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the 17 new Sustainable Development Goals. We must ensure the digital revolution is a revolution for human rights, in order to promote technological breakthroughs as development breakthroughs.”
The importance of scaling efforts on digital education and mobile learning was a matter which received full support and agreement. In advance of UNESCO’s Mobile Learning Week, many Commissioners singled education out as one of the most fundamental areas for action where the Commission can fuel effective change.
A recurrent issue under discussion was the need to strike a workable balance between investment and taxation, for the benefit of all members of society – to promote human development and sustainable growth, while spurring innovation. On top of this are issues associated with the cost of spectrum auctions, often in key markets where the digital divide is most prevalent.
The Commission underlined the need to build an ecosystem with government, including all ministries, and private sector working together, for more efficient investment and taxation, to empower all. In this respect, it was recommended to work more closely with Ministries of Finance to better promote the development potential of broadband.
In the run-up to the day-long meeting of the Commission there was a series of four Working Group meetings focused on a range of broadband-related issues, notably: education, outer space technologies, a new pilot initiative to index the pace of digitalisation at national level, and the digital gender divide.
In addition, a number of broadband commission partners – the United Nations University and the Berkman Klein Center for Internet and Society and Harvard University – joined forces to launch a new data research group into the digital gender divide.
Comprising leaders from government, industry, international organizations and academia, the Broadband Commission was established in 2010 as a top-level advocacy body promoting broadband as an accelerator of global development. The Commission is chaired by President Paul Kagame of Rwanda and Mexico’s Carlos Slim Helú. In September 2015 it was re-named the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development with the specific purpose of working to help achieve, through the power of broadband connectivity, the Sustainable Development Goals.
The Commission’s Spring Meeting 2017 was hosted by Huawei Technologies which also included a visit to Huawei headquarters in Shenzhen on 17 March 2017.
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.
