Broadband
Airtel steps up home pass expansion in wired broadband biz
MUMBAI: Airtel is taking the bull by its horns. Not wanting to lose out to the latest broadband entrant – Reliance Jio – it has stepped up fibre-to-home passes expansion. While announcing Q1 FY19 results, Airtel did mention that there would be significant step-up of home broadband investment, it has now rolled out almost one million (10 lakh) home passes in the first half of this FY.
Bharti Airtel MD and CEO India Gopal Vittal said in an earnings call that it is now beginning to see some growth in net additions. “This quarter has been a little bit better than the prior quarter though we saw some ARPU dilution because of the pricing arbitrage that there is and the adjustment as a consequence that we have had to do on the broadband front,” he also added. The ardent urge to have a significant foothold in this market is clear as in the last couple of years it has been rolling out about five to six lakh home passes.
Recently, Mukesh Ambani-led Reliance Jio acquired significant stakes in two large cable operators Hathway and Den Networks. The addressable market for the operator has increased highly leading to a more critical situation for other players. However, Airtel will continue to rollout home-passes aggressively in the second half of the FY to face the tough challenge thrown by its rival. While Airtel has been stepping up its investment in the segment already, it will do the same in the following year too. Notably, Vittal also mentioned the company would be open to look at partnerships to expand home presence through other entities that may have access to the last mile.
Vittal also added as it is adding a large number of home passes, the company should be stepping up acquisitions also which has already started in Q2. However, he also mentioned the gestation for translating a home pass into a utilised home pass is typically anywhere between three to four years. “It depends on when you got in there, the rate at which the occupancy is moving in a high-rise, which is really where our strategy is focused, on high-rise more than flatbed. So it depends on the occupancy, it depends on when the building gets ready and so on. So on a blended basis, if you look at the utilisations, they should come back to the levels that you normally have on the base over a three-year period,” he explained.
In its core business, Airtel has made about 7.5 million 4G net additions this quarter, a little lower than the first quarter. The company is adding most of its customers from the top 1000 towns. Though its performance has been poor in rural areas, Vittal is optimistic that it will begin to shift with the network rollout. “If you look at our 4G footprint, that is getting to about 150,000 sites. We added about 25,000 sites in this quarter and as we roll networks out we find that our share of 4G net adds in those particular geographies takes a bump up. There is a direct correlation between the rollouts of our network and the performance in 4G, which is why for example, in markets like Karnataka where we have rolled out much in advance we are getting more than our fair share of 4G net adds,” he said. The company stands at around 21 per cent odd on the EBITDA margins for mobile businesses.
Every new home the company is passing in the home broadband segment is fibre and the company’s existing digital subscriber line asset has also been upgraded through the vector fiber which was introduced a year ago. India’s fixed line broadband penetration was expected to increase to 10.3 per cent from the present single-digit share by year 2022 as per Singapore-based Media Partners Asia figure. Hence, although Jio could disrupt the market like it did in telecom segment, there are plenty of opportunities for other players too.
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.
