A tale of two transformations
— Manoj Kohli
In the next few months, I will complete 41 years of my professional life. It feels like yesterday that I joined the Sugar Division of DCM/Shriram group in 1979. The journey from sugar to Softbank has been extremely gratifying!
My first 16 years were primarily focused on various manufacturing plants of the Shriram group, followed by 20 years in the telecom sector and the last five years in renewable energy sector. I will share some highlights of creating the telecom and renewable energy businesses in India as well as in many international markets.
Supporting the scale-up of Airtel from two million to 300 million customers was not only exciting but also a fulfilling journey. It involved multifarious challenges of tough regulations (which continue even today), new brand, marketing and deep distribution, shift from 2G to 4G networks along with the latest IT inductions, building a globally unique business model, and most importantly, an open and agile work culture.
In addition, the societal transformation from around 15 million landlines in 1995 to over one billion mobile phones in 2019 enacted the biggest transformation in the life of an Indian in the last century. Also, the international expansion into Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and 17 countries in Africa was a major step for a small new Indian company from Delhi. Plus, the formation of the world’s largest tower company to optimize the fixed infrastructure costs across the industry was an unprecedented initiative, later followed by many telcos across the world.
Moving to the renewable energy JV, SB Energy formed by Softbank and Bharti in 2015 was not only timely but also a prerequisite for energy transition from fossilbased power to renewable energy from solar and wind.
The natural resources of sunshine and wind in coastal regions are turning out to be the most affordable power sources for the masses of India. The solar and wind tariffs are already under Rs three whereas the national average power purchase cost is Rs 3.60. happened to us in Airtel when the initial resistance transformed into a Harvard case study. Similarly, our model of renewable energy is a unique one vis-à-vis the major energy utilities across the world.
3. Mitigating regulatory risks:
It was 15 August 1983, India’s Independence Day. The air was crisp that morning. A leading English news magazine ran its cover, “The Indian telephone system could easily rank as the worst in the world, dogged by myriad problems, obsolete equipment and corruption. With the increasing gap between the supply and demand for new connections … the system seems to be heading for a breakdown.”
The story went on ranting about one Ram Piari Devi in Delhi waiting for a landline since 1965. It could have been my father’s story as well.
We have a consensus on one fact. Post-1991, the two industries that put India on the 21st-century trajectory are telecom and information technology (IT). The story of telecom is truly exciting. On the one hand, it saw its first Centre for Development of Telematics, a governmentowned telecommunications technology development center, come up. I know firsthand the excitement that it created, as my sister-in-law worked there in the early years. On the other hand, there were efforts to unshackle the sector from state controls. Telecom was given a private run, with progressive policies. The result: India got a developing nation tag—up from being a thirdworld country.
by my team. We spawned a new breed of professionals called network engineers and created tens of thousands of new jobs, by partnering with academia and industry. Telecom, driven by IP, became the next big industry that drove India’s progress and economic growth. We were no longer catching up. We had arrived. The journey had been breathtaking indeed. research are some of the ways forward. 5G will usher in huge benefits across sectors. The right policy interventionswill enable the sector to thrive. Transparency, technology amalgamation with AI and ML, and an environment that encourages more investment through private and public participation are key to longterm success. Hopefully, like Industry 4.0 we will see a Telecom 2.0 in India, ushering in a brighter future.