THE JOURNEY TO BECOMING TELECOM’S TOP MAN
The Journey to Becoming Telecom’s Top Man
Charles Goundar is living proof that dedication and hard work are the key ingredients to success. The Telecom Fiji CEO has been one of the contributing forces behind the technological revolution currently happening in Fiji.
Charles has spent over 20 years in the telecommunications industry and has a wealth of knowledge and experience, having worked his way up from the bottom, about how to make a large scale technology company work.
The young and accomplished CEO is able to relate to his staff because he was once in their position and is looked upon fondly as a trusted leader in the organisation.
His ability to relate, both to his staff and to ordinary Fijians, and his unique insight due to his local upbringing are key attributes to his success.
While he now has a prolific profile in the telecommunications industry, many don’t know the history behind the young Fijian who grew up to become one of the Pacific’s leading CEOs.
Starting from the bottom
Charles fondly looks back on his time spent leading up to where he has reached today. From humble beginnings as a sugar cane farmer’s son from Mullau, Rakiraki, Charles never dreamed that he would one day become the CEO of the leading ICT provider in the Pacific.
In the heat of the sugarcane farms he learned
Being a firm believer of innovation, Charles took on the role at a time when the telecommunications industry was rapidly changing and the market was focusing more on digital phones and data rather than solely on voice services.
His ability to relate, both to his staff and to ordinary Fijians, and his unique insight due to his local upbringing are key attributes to his success.
His approach to ensuring that Telecom remained a strong and competitive force in the market was to continuously grow and adapt to the ever-changing conditions in the market...
the importance and value of hard work very early on and grew to appreciate and relish opportunities that came his way.
Charles always had a keen interest in learning, particularly in the fields of physics and engineering.
He began his professional life in 1999 as a Physics teacher at Natabua High School, a position he maintained for one academic year, after graduating with a Degree in Electrical Engineering from the University of the South Pacific. Here Charles learned patience and the value of imparting his knowledge to children.
Later that year, he got the opportunity to join Telecom’s Lautoka office as a graduate trainee, not realizing the implications and significance of this decision.
He started off in the corporate business solutions division where he was involved in providing solutions and implementing a number of projects for enterprise customers.
In 2003, he moved to the Suva branch where he gained a tremendous amount of experience playing various roles in technical, commercial, product management and business development, strategic, wholesale and international areas. A firm believer in continuous growth and development, Charles applied himself to many technical and non-technical training programmes as well as programs in leadership, strategy and change management.
He became Group Product Manager after three years and was ultimately rewarded with the role of General Manager for Business, Sales and Retail, a role he made his own for seven years.
In September 2018, Charles Goundar was appointed the CEO of Telecom.
Investing in Fijians
As we mentioned in an earlier piece, Telecom has experienced success at the local, regional and international level but the company has not forgotten its roots and always looks out for Fijians. The Telecom family employs 565 Fijians with various skill sets in its many sections, who rely on them as a means of providing for their families.
In fact, Giving back to Fiji is one of the core principles that drives CEO Charles Goundar who worked his way up the ranks in Telecom. “Our telecommunication services allow people in remote areas to connect to Fiji and the rest of the world and this enables students to do research and study and bridging the digital divide like this I believe, is the best investment anyone can make,” says Charles. “They also allow Fijians to do business and remain in contact with loved ones around the world.” This is an example of a successful and innovative local company giving back to the people and an example for many others to follow.
Changing the Industry
Being a firm believer of innovation, Charles took on the role at a time when the telecommunications industry was rapidly changing and the market was focusing more on digital phones and data rather than solely on voice services.
His approach to ensuring that Telecom remained a strong and competitive force in the market was to continuously grow and adapt to the ever-changing conditions in the market in order to maintain its position as the industry’s leading entity.
His key aims are to continue to provide cutting edge products and solutions to all customers and to invest in new technology. Telecom now provides data network connectivity, high speed dedicated Internet access, international services, managed ICT services, data centre hosting, collaboration tools and Wi-Fi, amongst a host of other offerings. Sustainable revenue growth, cost optimization, brilliant customer service delivery, maximising operational efficiency and technology refresh are the 5 values by which Charles believes Telecom and its staff should live by to attain continual success.
One thing that Charles has learned in his career is that in order for any business venture to be successful, the people involved must be adequately trained, developed and invested in.
“Getting people with the right expertise is probably one of the biggest challenges right now,” says Charles.
Still Imparting Knowledge 20 Years On
Charles thought he had left teaching behind when he made the switch from teaching to Telecom but unfortunately fate had other plans. Under his leadership, Telecom is collaborating with Fijian tertiary institutions by providing their guidance on industry requirements so that institutions can tailor-make their courses to better suit the industry and arm future employees with the right skills.
Once a teacher, always a teacher I guess.
Apart from introducing the correct theoretical know-how at a tertiary level, hands-on expertise itself is also important.
With Telecom now venturing heavily into deployment of fiber optic technology in various parts across Fiji, demand for skill set in fiber technology is now greater than ever before. Telecom has setup a training lab in Fiji which not only caters for training requirements for Telecom staff, especiallyin the areas of field operations, but Telecom also plans to extend the services to the regional telco operators. Charles stated that “Telecom Fiji’s strategy is to give customers good quality and reliable internet connection at home, so that our broadband internet service is used for heavy-duty usage such as downloading, online gaming, watching high-definition YouTube videos, watching Netflix, online video learning and other intensive services.
“The idea is to create the best broadband and high speed internet experience for the customers at home instead of competing with other operators in Fiji”. Charles believes in forging new partnerships with other industry leaders and continues to place a strong focus on new business development initiatives while exploring emerging market trends.
His wealth of knowledge and experience will not only propel Telecom to higher levels but will also continue to hold the trust and confidence of its shareholders for as long as his service allows.