Broadband
Online consumers to be better protected by new United Nations guidelines
NEW DELHI: Better protection for people buying things online in both developed and developing countries will be among the outcomes of revisions to United Nations guidelines agreed at a major UNCTAD conference in Geneva.
More than 350 competition specialists from 70 countries gathered from 6 to 10 July to review the so-called “United Nations Set” of mutually agreed competition and consumer protection policies.
UNCTAD’s work on competition and consumer protection has long shown that these can play a direct and important role in promoting economic growth and reducing poverty in developing countries. Competition stimulates innovation, productivity and competitiveness, increases a country’s attractiveness as a business location, triggering investment, and delivers benefits for consumers through lower prices, improved services and greater choice. Empowered consumers who know their rights and enforce them are subject to fewer abuses. This directly improves their welfare.
Last updated in 1999, the United Nations Guidelines on Consumer Protection needed updating in a world of e-commerce and online shopping, and in other areas such as financial services, energy, public utilities, and tourism. With the update, member States agreed to put UNCTAD at the center of global consumer protection.
“If we want citizens to be active players in achieving sustainable development we need to empower them as consumers in the marketplace,” said UNCTAD Secretary-General Mukhisa Kituyi. “I am delighted that member States have entrusted UNCTAD with becoming the privileged international forum for advancing consumer protection worldwide.”
A proposal will be submitted to the United Nations General Assembly for adoption in its next session and contains the request that UNCTAD: establish an Intergovernmental Group of Experts on consumer protection law and policy; monitor the implementation of the guidelines; serve as forum for exchange of best practices; and provide technical cooperation and capacity building to developing countries and economies in transition.
Amanda Long, director-general of Consumers International, which is the world federation of consumer groups, said: “We are particularly pleased with the high level of commitment to establish an Intergovernmental Group of Experts. Effective implementation by member States and business will be key going forward.”
Further outcomes of the conference included renewed support for UNCTAD’s voluntary peer review model. Since 2005, more than 18 countries have been participated in the competition policy peer review process. The resulting reports were used in amending legislation, advocacy (for example in Indonesia and Nicaragua) and establishing new training agenda for staff in Zimbabwe.
UNCTAD’s unique development perspective and experience in working with competition authorities in developing countries, as well as on competition policy worldwide, serve as a guarantee that the voluntary peer review process focuses on fostering competitiveness and takes into account the development needs of countries.
The conference also agreed to reconvene the Intergovernmental Group of Experts on Competition Law and Policy during the next four years until the next ministerial review conference is held.
Emerging issues this body will tackle include: competition and its role in inclusive and sustainable development; best practices in the design and enforcement of both competition and consumer protection laws and policies; the provision of capacity building and technical assistance, and International cooperation and networking
In particular, next year’s meeting will focus on examining the interface between the objectives of competition policy and intellectual property; enforcing competition policy in the retail sector; enhancing legal certainty in the relationship between competition authorities and judiciaries; and strengthening private sector capacities for competition compliance.
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.
