Broadband
Verizon slashes broadband rates to $14.95 a month
MUMBAI: It is a move aimed at encouraging Americans to switch from dial up services to a high-speed broadband connection. US communications services provider Verizon has announced a deal with Yahoo! to offer a new, fully integrated DSL service to Verizon Online DSL subscribers.
The service, named Verizon Yahoo! for DSL, combines the strengths of the two companies, including a range of broadband speeds at affordable prices and a wide variety of premium Yahoo! features at no additional charge.
Verizon’s marketing alliance with Yahoo displaces the earlier deal it had with Microsoft for MSN to be its web portal. Yahoo has created a web portal for Verizon customers.
Verizon has also introduced a new, entry-level consumer DSL Internet access service with a maximum connection speed of 768 Kbps (kilobits per second) downstream and 128 Kbps upstream for $14.95 a month with an annual service agreement, designed to attract dial-up users to broadband.
In June, SBC Communications had announced that it would sell broadband access for $14.95. But the low-cost service, though twice as fast as Verizon’s new service, is a promotional offering.
The pricing is aimed at converting dial-up customers and competing with cable companies. Comcast and other cable companies charge over $39.99 for high-speed lines.
The new service includes premium Yahoo! features valued at over $200 a year at no additional charge, including premium e-mail, 100 MB (megabytes) of storage, an all-in-one security suite and commercial-free Launchcast Radio service.
Verizon’s retail markets group president Bob Ingalls says, “We are breaking down the price barrier for people who want high-speed Internet service, but have not had a place for it in their budgets. With speed that’s faster than dial-up, and at a price that’s lower than many dial-up service plans, our new service will promote the use of broadband, attract more subscribers to Verizon DSL and further increase our competitiveness with cable modem service providers.”
“Our new DSL service and our alliance with Yahoo! reflect our commitment to offering Verizon broadband customers real choices and exceptional value. From the busy small business that shares large documents, to the young adult who enjoys online games, to the grandparents who enrich their e-mails with photos – Verizon offers a range of great speeds, affordable prices and superior content and services to meet every need.”
Verizon already offers Verizon Online DSL service to qualifying consumers with maximum connection speeds of up to 3.0 megabits per second (Mbps) downstream and 768 Kbps upstream for as low as $19.95 a month for the first three months and $29.95 a month thereafter when purchased with an annual service agreement or in combination with a qualifying package of calling services from Verizon.
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.
