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In a first of its kind event, VOICE&DATA, in association with ECI, brought new telecom operators on a common platform for a round table on 'Building Today's Network for Tomorrow'.

The event saw participation from new operators which have got licenses to start their services. They included Unitech Wireless, Bycell Telecommunications, Sistema, Datacom and Loop Telecom. Moderated by Ibrahim Ahmad, group editor, business magazine group, CyberMedia, the evening was characterized by a lively discussion on the various challenges and opportunities being faced by the new operators.

The round table was attended by Alexandre Louzine, CEO, Bycell Telecommunications; Rajneesh Arora, CFO, Bycell; Bhoopesh Raghav, head NLD, Loop Telecom; Asit Kadayan, director (M-II), Telecom Engineering Center; Sergey Savchenko, CFO, Sistema Shyam TeleServices; Atul Agarwal, head, IT, DataCom Solutions; Shafiq Anjum, senior general manager, IT, DataCom Solutions; Rajat Singh, head, business strategy, DataCom Solutions; Vinay Kala, general manager, projects, Unitech Wireless; Ram Prabhu, head, roll out, Unitech Wireless; Yoav Valadarsky, AVP Solutions marketing, ECI Telecom; BM Baweja, senior director, ministry of communications and IT; and Kiran Pande, president, ECI Telecom.

Panelists discussing the issues and opportunities being faced by greenfield operators

The event was kick-started by Ahmad delivering a welcome note. Followed by a presentation on 'AVP Solutions marketing' by Valadarsky of ECI.

Yoav Valadarsky of ECI Telecom making a presentation on 'Building Today's Networks for Tomorrow'

Greenfield operators believe that differentiation of their services is the key factor which is going to help them in making inroads in the highly competitive market, where average revenues per unit are consistently falling.

“The incumbents have some advantages and we would have to come out with innovative marketing strategies to establish ourselves. The differentiation of the services is going to be the key factor for any greenfield operators in the Indian market,” said Louzine.

An interesting aspect of the discussion was the idea of cooperation, especially evident in infrastructure sharing. The members recognized that in spite of various challenges, it is critical for the operators to come together in terms of infrastructure sharing.

“Infrastructure sharing, both active and passive is important for every player in the field. Loop proposes to join one or more telecom operators to jointly create a pan-India fiber backbone. There can be substantial cost saving through passive sharing as well,” said Raghav. The idea was further endorsed by other members as well and the group decided to meet regularly to discuss their problems and challenges in the Indian telecom market.

All in all, it was a lively event characterized by the participation of all new operators getting ready to take on the challenge of competing with established players like Airtel and Reliance.

Gagandeep Kaur
gagandeepk@cybermedia.co.in