My "Journey Beyond the Three Seas" - An Indian Telecom Travelogue

My "Journey Beyond the Three Seas" - An Indian Telecom Travelogue

I love Tver. My dad and mom stay in Tver. There are lovely neighborhoods in town. Not excellent roads, however where have you ever visible appropriate roads in Russia? Especially refreshing is the crisp pine air in a bit forest close to Ordzhonikidze Street where we live. Tver is a regular quiet Russian provincial town. It is positioned more than one hours by using automobile from Moscow. Nowadays, its antique church buildings and the bank of the Volga River are the handiest witnesses of Tver’s long and various records. What is interesting, though, is that Tver is attached to India.

No, Air India doesn’t fly to Tver and Aeroflot has not but released its first flight from the sleepy Tver airport to New Delhi. But back within the 15th century one simple Russian merchant, Afanasy Nikitin, ventured on a protracted experience from Tver to India passing the Black and Caspian Seas and crossing some of countries to reach the western shorelines of that charming and amazing land. He masterfully described his existence in India for three years (1471 to 1474). His journey notes “Journey Beyond the Three Seas” have become the primary Russian record on real existence in antique Indian kingdoms, a real account of everyday life lots of miles far from Russia…

There are such a lot of matters that join Russia and India. Nikitin’s travels in the fifteenth century were observed with the aid of Peter the Great’s undertaking in the 1700s. Then that ball went rolling all the manner from philosophers like Tolstoy and Rerich to the primary cosmonaut Yury Gagarin’s well-known tour of India and a wildly popular Soviet movie, “Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears,” inside the Seventies. There was the saga referred to as the united states, long and exciting, starring Indira Gandhi, Lal Bahadur Shastri and Raj Kapoor, with fairs of Indian movies in Russia and the release of a joint area group. And then came 1991: the breaking 12 months for a brand new Russia and additionally a powerful year for a brand new India.

Somehow and someplace a strategic hyperlink among our two international locations managed to come back undone, and losing momentum we started out wandering in our own universes. Building a brand new democracy didn’t come effortlessly for either aspect. Almost  a long time have surpassed for the reason that then, and now those two one of a kind countries are on the worldwide scene, each quite assured and in search of extra prosperity for their people. Russia and India are actually the part of a strong BRIC built in into the world financial system. Today our outsourcing corporations compete globally and make global-elegance partnerships; Lakshmi Mittal and Roman Abramovich percentage the Forbes’ eating table; Indians participate in oil production projects within the Russian Far East and Russians are constructing energy plants in India. Still, the level of bilateral alternate is minuscule as compared to the two international locations’ potential.

One area in which cooperation ought to succeed is the excessive tech region. Both Russia and India annually exhibit amazing increase within the ICT enterprise of 25%+, far beyond the United States and EU.

Both Russian and Indian cell sectors are bustling with a wonderful vibrancy and deliver innovative services. Indian corporations have definitely grow to be the outsourcing backyard of the sector, and Russian IT companies are studying fast. Broadband is sweeping Internet into its gigabyted wallet and 3G is zipping across the nook. Russian telecom holdings are knocking on India’s telecom doorways saying multi-million-dollar investments, but to no avail – the important thing to the Indian Telecom Makhal is simply no longer there! To recognize better what’s happening within the region, GidaByte and ComNews decided to release an exploratory trip to India to discover the enterprise dynamics from the important thing Indian gamers. And there I went in early March 2007.

Well, in contrast to Nikitin’s adventures, my first travel to India didn’t ultimate months, however quietly started in the Hong Kong airport, in which I flew to New Delhi via AirIndia. In the aircraft I changed into seated with a completely type guy who passed off to be a member of the Jain faith. Amazingly, way to Mr. Jain, throughout our 4 hour flight I determined out lots approximately diverse cultural and spiritual factors of Indian lifestyles. No want for Lonely Planet!

My story went on in a lovable mattress & breakfast in a quiet New Delhi community. Constantly fed and entertained with the aid of a hospitable couple, I felt at domestic right away and fell asleep some time after 2 a.M. The next three days were a consistent eye-opener for me on Indian business and cultural lifestyles. I truely got here to India to satisfy with the elite of the neighborhood telecom enterprise, however discovered out tons greater. On pinnacle of that, I were given a malicious program. Don’t fear, it’s not infectious, it’s a trojan horse of great hobby in India.

Mr. T.V. Ramachandran’s office become my first stop. Mr. Ramachandran chairs the Cellular Operator Association of India, and has been within the telecom industry for pretty a while. Proving his words that he honestly enjoys what he does, Mr. Ramachandran speedy explained to me that GSM is the manner to head, that India is beforehand of China in terms of mobile increase and that the 3G technology is across the corner, even as voice will nevertheless be the killer utility within the years to come. And I even changed into able to squeeze a secret from TVR (that’s how he likes to be known as): “Here is one extra private guess I am going to make, Andrey. This yr we will see eight-nine million new cell subscribers each month. That is going to show up, I think, and you know why? Because greater operators are going to push into the agricultural areas because of the very revolutionary coverage of the Indian Government to provide Universal Service Obligatory (USO) subsidy support for shared wi-fi infrastructure in rural areas.”

Beefed up by way of a fantastic deal of facts, I set my sails towards the chief of cell world in India, Bharti Airtel. Meeting with Manoj Kohli, Bharti Airtel’s President, and Sanjay Kapoor, Airtel’s President of Mobile Services, furnished me with a wealth of information on the thriving cell enterprise in India. Traveling through the New Delhi’s thick morning crowd to the Gurgaon district, where Bharti’s centered, was a trouble, however it’s really worth it to hire an Indian Schumacher! The guy in reality flew thru the swarms of tuk-tuks, automobiles, vehicles, cows, policemen, you name it! I even managed to complete my morning newspaper through sticking it firmly underneath my left leg. What an afternoon! But there you move, I reached Bharti Airtel’s places of work.

Brightly lit with the morning sun, Kohli’s office radiated power. Smiling and assured, it seemed Mr. Manoj Kohli shared with me no much less than Bharti’s DNA. And I ought to feel it in him. This man believed in what his enterprise was doing, that's continually a key to success. The DNA is the entrepreneurial spirit instilled by the concept-guy in fee, Sunil Mittal. Kohli says that “from the Bharti agency’s attitude, we're large, however in the global mobile perspective we're still small. And we’d want to hold that spirit of a small business enterprise and we need to paintings similar to a small business enterprise.” So what's Bharti doing with the tightening competition? “Today competitors may also copy absolutely all of us’s flow. The handiest thing which you cannot reproduction is our spirit. You cannot fake our passion. That’s why we win,” concluded Kohli with a grin.

At every other neighboring Bharti constructing, Sanjay Kapoor, President of Mobile Services, opened his secrets of prevailing mobile customers via very progressive tactics, be it a well-known “Song Catcher” or a brand new platform for CPs that allow the employer to supply better content material for greater human beings. Yet in the back of all this lies Airtel’s humans, or in Kapoor’s phrases: “We take a number of pride in our human beings. And people want to return and work for us. Right from zonal to operational tiers, I suppose that the caliber of the individuals who work for us is fantastic. And it isn't always about the money. People need to be associated with pioneering ideas. People are empowered.”

After this publicity to the world of the No. 1 Indian cellular operator, it became very essential for me to learn more approximately the conductor of this mobile symphony – Indian Telecom Regulator (TRAI). Soft spoken and really assured, TRAI’s Chairman Mr. Nripendra Misra jogged my memory of a true scholar who virtually is aware of his stuff. With impeccable logic and heaps of examples, I became immersed in a short direction of telecom liberalization, 3G and DTH. It was short and candy and on very quick notice too. A great contact of the beyond became that Mr Misra truely spent some time in my domestic town – Tashkent, as a part of an Indian authorities delegation. We are all connected after all!

BSNL Managing Director, Mr. A.K. Sinha, met me in his office and gave me a complete review of what his nation-sponsored business enterprise has completed in the course of those years. Most stunning for me turned into the truth that it had turn out to be the No. 2 GSM operator, winning towards robust competition from personal cell operators. This charismatic guy become filled with power and a willingness to compete with every body, be it a personal cell operator or a overseas competitor. With a superb pool of specialists BSNL changed into set to remain a leader for years yet to come, said Sinha. The modifications inside the telecom enterprise were hanging, he stated. “Before humans have been status in line to get a phone… I realize because I’ve visible it – humans came to us and begged that they wished it, say, on clinical grounds, and so forth. And now our humans are begging them to shop for a phone…so it's miles a reversal…”

These modifications were no greater apparent than in Mumbai. Mumbai looked like the cradle of mankind; with its various crowds of human beings in enterprise suits, turbans, homeless searching a few of the sparkling leaves of inexperienced salad, Bentleys of the rich, and screeching and honking of taxis… What should possibly unite this city of extremes, thought I? And abruptly the answer got here from the open window of a tired Volkswagen, in which a nearby guy become making a song but some other popular Bollywood melody. Yes, Bollywood brings about that younger and inspirational vibrancy, helping human beings dream and dream massive! And the sparkling proof of my concept became meditated in a cup of black aromatic coffee supplied through Neeraj Roy, CEO of Hungama. Roy, a clever guy in a crisp mild blue blouse and carrying well reduce grey hair, heads the cell content material and advertising and marketing business enterprise Hungama Mobile that holds the exceptional rights to Bollywood content material. In simply thirty minutes of our assembly in between steady calls of business companions and Bollywood stars, Neeraj confessed to me – Bollywood is the killer-software in India – and he is so proper!

A helicopter descended at Reliance Communications, at the same time as we toured the agency’s facilities, called the Knowledge City. “There’s Mr. Anil Ambani,”talked about Mrinal Sapre, Corporate Communications Officer at Reliance Communications, at the same time as we had been making our tour of the organisation’s facilities. “Actually the territory of the Dhirubai Ambani Knowledge City is identical to that of the Vatican,”-- brought Mrinal, smiling. When we entered Reliance’s control centre, it immediately reminded me of the Russian Space Flight Control Center in Korolyov. The facility had huge complete scale monitors with a live report of the operator’s activities around India. Unbelievable! I stared and couldn’t finish my second espresso. I surely saw the future of the Indian cellular international, Reliance World.

Mr. Mahesh Prasad, Reliance Communications, President, Applications, Solutions & Content Group, told me that creativity and innovation were actual differentiators for Reliance. But once more the purchaser changed into the focus of its attention, truly two groups of customers. Prasad known as them “international Indians, or high end users, and aspiring Indians”. He went on to say that “worldwide Indians are such as you and me, they in all likelihood have visible and used the best handsets and can come up with the money for the latest and the first-class. That’s what's going on in Japan, the US, Europe, and so forth. These high cease clients are completely waiting for that Reliance will provide the great of the pleasant era and offerings. And we provide that to them. Then inside the institution which I name the aspiring Indians, there are individuals who like offerings primarily based on price. They are step by step improving their life-style, spending patterns, amusement expenditures, and so forth.” With those  businesses in mind and precious offers in hand, Reliance is well set to compete and win.

Finally at a cute Indian Café I met with ContentSutra’s Editor Nikhil Pahwa, who is a true example of recent social media, web 2.0 and beyond. Matter-of-factly Nikhil described the country of the cell content material quarter in India, emphasizing the growing significance of internet-media in India. Apparently, ContentSutra, which is part of PaidContent media enterprise, is developing at a quick pace, with many new admirers visiting their website online and leaving comments. In truth, that is the face of young India sharing their souls via WWW. And this young era of Indians will be shaping the destiny of India. After our assembly I realized that India is a universe unto itself and to apprehend it higher one need to be gift, one should experience the pulse of this sophisticated and worthwhile world.

Next 12 months might be the Year of Russia in India, as announced via the President Putin at some stage in his meeting with Sonia Gandhi in St. Petersburg in 2005. And this once more symbolizes the tremendous importance of the robust and ancient ties among our countries. This message could be very clean – let us circulate directly to the subsequent level of cooperation -- Russia-India 2.0.