The decision to choose Mukesh Ambani as the VOICE&DATA Telecom Man of the Year was, finally, unanimous. It is a different story that there was quite a bit of debate and discussion on some other names too, who I am sure would be even stronger contenders next year. Why was the award given to a man, who claims that he will fulfill the 'mobile phone dream' of millions of Indians, but whose opponents say, has broken too many rules of the game. The reasons for giving the award are compelling.

First and foremost, it is a fact that it was the Ambanis (father Dhirubhai to begin with, and then son Mukesh) who gave a new meaning to telecom in India. All others who came in before him had a much smaller outlook for telecom and its potential in the country. This man said his phone was for the common man. This man introduced schemes where millions subscribed in months. The speed with which he has been moving is amazing. He has been able to build in a year's time, subscriber numbers that took other players a few years. His rollouts are fast, the way he announces new schemes is amazing, and the way he has been wiring up the country is said to be a record of sorts. Though he also runs a conglomerate, and oil and petrochemicals have been high on his agenda, he seems to have put all his energies behind communications.

One of Ambani's biggest achievements was the impact on tariffs. He ensured that with each announcement, call rates or rentals tumbled. At a time when prices seemed to have got stuck-because of a cartel, some say-Ambani's moves ensured that in the end tariffs of basic, mobile, STD, and ILD kept coming down. Whatever be the impact on the industry, the end user has been a gainer.

A knack for hard negotiating is another quality that helped Ambani. His style of negotiating, even with some of the world's biggest equipment vendors, is now a known phenomenon. He seems to have made a lot of other operators sit up and ask for better rates. Not being cowed down by policies and procedures is another strength that Ambani has successfully inherited from his father-and honed further. While there has been a lot of criticism of the way Ambani operates, he ensured that he stands on firm ground. When his business ethics were being questioned, he made his position very strong by saying that he was just making use of technological advances (and that policies need to catch up and change), and that he was basically trying to make communications affordable and accessible. This defense made it very difficult for regulators and policy makers to pin him down. In fact, he has been getting accolades the world over.

Last but not the least was his looking beyond voice applications-where the GSM operators have been very slow. Ambani's team educated the country that a phone is much more than a voice device. The way his team has been popularizing mobile data services, including mobile Internet, is worth watching.

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Having explained why Ambani deserved to be the Telecom Man of the Year, I would not be a friend if I do not give some honest feedback too. Ambani has been able to move very fast, but his team needs to catch up. There are innumerable stories of hassled and harassed customers. It should not forget about quality of networks, which is still far from good. And finally, he should ensure that his 'people's mobile phone' is actually a people's mobile phone, and not a mere slogan.

Ibrahim Ahmed