Broadband
Reliance Jio to see phase-wise launch in 2015
MUMBAI: The annual general meeting (AGM) of Reliance Industries was much awaited. With the talk around the company only growing in the past few weeks after it acquired Network18, eyes were fixed on the probable outcome of this meeting. The 40th AGM which was held today, saw RIL chairman Mukesh Ambani highlighting the future of the much awaited 4G broadband network in the country under the brand of Reliance Jio.
“I had shared the vision of this initiative, Jio- of a digital India- last year and of the unique opportunity that we have to maximise the benefits of the digital age. Digital services will help contribute significantly to the Indian economy and help improve lives of our 1.25 billion countrymen,” he said while addressing shareholders at the AGM.
He also informed the shareholders that limited set of trials for Jio are already underway and the expanded trials would begin from August 2014 which would continue through 2014 and early 2015. “The year 2015 will see the phased launch of Reliance Jio across India. Millions of customers would have started to use the digital platform and services in their daily lives. The fruits of the tremendous value created by this (Jio) Rs 70,000 crore initiative would start to flow,” he stated.
The broadband service will cover all states at launch accounting for 90 per cent urban India and 215,000 villages. Eventually it will cover over 600,000 villages. “They would ensure that every Indian has access to the state-of-the-art digital connectivity and services that are on par with or better than anywhere else in the world,” said Ambani proudly.
Assuring the shareholders about its future, Ambani emphasised, “Reliance Jio will be one of the largest job-creating and wealth-creating business initiatives in India.” Currently 10,000 full time employees are working on Jio along with 30,000 professionals from Reliance’s partners and vendors across the world. This apart, he said that 100,000 people are working across India in creating the digital infrastructure backbone for the network. “Millions of new entrepreneurs and jobs can be expected to spring up in the tertiary and secondary sectors in new and innovative digital enterprises and services,” he added.
Throwing light on the reason for acquisition of Network18, Ambani said, “The acquisition through an open offer of Network18 media and investments and its subsidiary TV 18 broadcast by Independent Media Trust, the sole beneficiary of which is Reliance Industries is one aspect of the digital services play.” He stated that this would strengthen its 4G business at the intersect of telecom, web and digital commerce and the media through a suit of premiere digital properties.
The reason for strengthening its large projects, one of which is Jio is to get Reliance Industries closer finding its way into the presetigious list of Fortune 50 companies. He added: “Our efforts and focus over the next two years will be to intensify these initiatives and have them reach out to more citizens across the social spectrum. Reliance will be moving from investing in India’s economic future to integrating deeper with India’s social fabric.”
The AGM was also significant as it saw the appointment of Mukesh Ambani’s spouse Nita Ambani on the Reliance Industries board. Ambani stated that she was being appointed – as she was an “accomplished individual, the chairperson of the group’s CSR initiative, Reliance Foundation, which has done exceedingly well – “for furthering the group’s growth agenda.”
Industry watchers have been speculating whether she will have a role to play in the Network18 group, which RIL is in the process of acquiring totally. The megacorp has denied that this “will come to pass, at least for now.”
Stay tuned in!!!
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.
