Addressing an august gathering at the Telecom Leadership Forum (TLF 2014), Sam Pitroda, Advisor to the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh on Public Information Infrastructure and Innovations, said that the telecom industry should enable young talent to lead the second phase of growth in telecom.
At TLF, an interactive industry forum, Pitroda, who is also the Chairman of India's National Innovation Council, emphasized that high-tech young talent will bring about a change in the ecosystem the way Whatsapp, Facebook,Linkedin and Twitter have on the global scale.
In its second edition in 2014, this CyberMedia event was hosted by its telecom publication VOICE&DATA.
"The second phase of telecom revolution will be driven by data and video," he said. Many disciplines, segments and industry sub segments will merge and mesh, he implied.
He advised the telecom operators to not focus only on mobile subscribers. The second phase of telecom revolution will extend beyond the handsets with sensors beginning to get everywhere and drive "Internet of things" which is already becoming a reality. Integrating this shift in business model requires a "shift of mindset", said Pitroda.
The conference saw top executives from the telecom industry animatedly discussing and debating the issues plaguing the industry. The theme about re-charging the industry struck a chord with the audience. They actively participated in discussions about exploring new and emerging business models, technology options, and revenue streams for re-charging the Indian telecom industry, which is at the beginning of the curve with consolidation next on agenda.
Pitroda was honored with the VOICE&DATA Lifetime Contribution Award 2013, an award recognizing his PCO revolution in India. Besides, he played a key role in founding CDoT, CDAC, and TIFAC with over four decades of involvement in telecom and ICT.
Telecom Person of the Year Award was given to Marten Pieters, CEO and MD, Vodafone India, for his company's double-digit revenue growth even though the industry was in red.
In the special category awards, Hari Om Rai, Chairman and Managing Director, Lava International, got the Emerging Company of the Year Award for developing significant dent in the Indian handset market.
VOICE&DATA Award for Special Contribution to Indian Telecom was given to Justice SB Sinha, former chairperson of TDSAT, for his key decisions as Chairman.
Jagbir Singh, CTO and Director, Networks, Airtel, received the VOICE&DATA Telecom CTO of the Year 2013 Awards.
The special award, VOICE&DATA Editor's Choice Awards for Emerging Operator went to Videocon Telecommunications for highest month-on-month net subscriber additions in the circles it operates.
And Telecom Towers award was received by Viom Networks for an EBIDTA growth of 57% and a PBT of Rs 80 crore.
The eight special awards were conferred by a set of eminent jury comprising Sanjay Kapoor, ex-CEO, Airtel, Pradeep Gupta CMD,CyberMedia (Jury Vice Chair), Ashok Sud, Secretary General, AUSPI, Vikram Tiwathia, Associate Director General, COAI, Vishwanath Alluri, Founder and CEO, IMI Mobile, P Balaji, Managing Director, Nokia India, Munish Seth, Managing Director, Alcatel Lucent India and Nilangshu Katriar, Telecom Audit Partner, E&Y.
Awards were given away by CyberMedia Chairman Pradeep Gupta and Pitroda.
VOICE&DATA Telecom Leadearship Forum was supported by Amdocs, Mahindra Comviva, onmobile, Quest forum and Wipro.