Broadband
Fixed broadband demand peaks again as offices switch to work from home
KOLKATA: India has exemplified its excellence in democratising internet through mobile data. But the growth of fixed broadband was at a much tepid rate until the country had to turn to work from home and school from home due to the raging Covid2019 pandemic. While more and more people needed high speed and stable internet and opted for home broadband connections last year, the demand for new connections is again on the rise as many parts of the country descend into lockdown.
UCN Cable Network director Jagdish Paliya said that demand for connections has again picked up in last one month or so but not as much as last year. The company has witnessed a ten per cent growth in demand. In addition to that, data consumption of existing consumers has surged drastically, up 25 per cent, he added.
Compared to the last quarter, broadband customer addition has gone up for GTPL Hathway too, one of the leading players in the segment. GTPL Hathway cable TV head & chief strategy officer Piyush Pankaj said the requirement for new connections has increased somewhere around 15-20 per cent month-on-month. However, this trend has been on an upward trajectory since March 2020 itself. As a large part of the workforce switches to WFH mode for the next few months, the incremental demand will remain for the next quarter at least, he noted.
Kerala based Asianet is witnessing the same trend with 25 per cent surge in demand, Asianet Satellite Communications vice president & technology head Salil Thomas shared. “We saw a surge in demand when lockdown started last year because lot of employees started working from home. There was a surge in demand during first quarter of lockdown. That trend was evident throughout the year but when people started moving back to their respective workplaces at the end of the year, there was slow decrease in demand. Now, it has picked up again,” he detailed.
Siti Networks CEO Anil Malhotra had a different take. According to him, the trend is not similar this year because the impact of the pandemic is much severe. Even the workers who do installations are at risk right now, people both in-office and on the field are getting infected. Consumers are also affected as the virus is permeating almost every household.
Everybody is focused more on providing seamless service to existing customers rather than improving numbers, Malhotra stated. However, if the situation again culminates into a prolonged work from home culture, and more people start staying at home, there will be surge in demand in the long run, he added.
Considerably, even the players who are seeing a surge in demand are facing on-ground issues. With a Covid positive case in almost every household, it is becoming increasingly difficult for operators to install new connections in these homes. Societies have barred entry to resist rapid spread of the deadly virus. But the situation is not dire like last year, as the service providers have learnt how to tackle the issues. On the backend of the services, broadband players are facing fewer issues with advance planning. In terms of inventories, these firms have stocked enough equipment – although a longer lockdown may create difficulties again.
According to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India’s report, there were 22.67 million wired broadband subscribers in the country as of 31 January 2021. The top five wired Broadband service providers were BSNL (7.69 million), Bharti Airtel (2. 90 million), Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd (2.25 million), Atria Convergence Technologies ( 1.80 million) and Hathway Cable & Datacom ( 1. 06 million).
“Penetration of home broadband in India is very low compared to advanced countries. We have a long way to go to reach ideal penetration,” Win Broadband MD & CEO K V Seshasayee noted. “It is cheaper to consume data through fibre than wireless. Customers can get a much better deal at a lower price. Fibre-based wired broadband is beneficial for small businesses as well. Couple with these factors, the work from home culture will accelerate the demand for home broadband in India. Moreover, the bandwidth requirement will also go up with more users in rural areas.”
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.
