Tata- V&D100 Telecom Man of the Year

NEW DELHI: The first Voice&Data Telecom Man of the Year Award was awarded to Ratan Tata. The citation he received read, "the man whose vision, grit, and charisma is helping change the face of Indian telecom." Rajiv Burman, COO of Tata Teleservices, accepted the trophy on Tata’s behalf.

Long before telecom became fashionable among Indian corporates, Mr Tata initiated his group into the telecom business by taking personal interest in the setting up of a telecom venture. Under the leadership of this visionary, the group underwent successful transition from an old-economy giant to a new-economy war-horse, and is now at the forefront of changing the face of Indian telecom.





Today, Mr Tata, widely regarded as a doyen of Indian industry, heads the country’s biggest private telecom group, worth Rs 8,000 crore. The Group has under its umbrella services companies operating in the ILD, ISP, Fixed-line, CDMA, and of course GSM cellular space. There are also companies active in domains like Enterprise Voice Solutions and Structured Cabling, Telecom Software, Broadband, and Networking Services.

The V&D100 Annual Awards 2003 were given to top telecom services and equipment companies across a total of 27 categories. The state-run telecom services behemoth BSNL won the Top Service Provider Award hands down. Prithipal Singh, Chairman and MD, BSNL received the award. BSNL bagged three top awards, Top Service Provider, Top NLD Operator, and Top Basic Services. The Top Equipment Company award went to Lucent Technologies. The Top Basic Service Provider Award went to BSNL.


VSNL remained the country’s leading ISP, bagging the Top Internet Service Provider Award for the year. The Top VoIP Switch Company award was presented to VocalTec.

Lucent Technologies emerged as the Top Carrier Switch Company this year. Bharti Teletech, a role model for aspiring manufacturers in India, bagged the Top Telephone Manufacturer Award. Against all odds, ITI made significant inroads in turnkey services and new technology areas, to take away the Top Turnkey Services Company Award.

In the Telecom Cables category, Finolex Cables happened to be perhaps the only company to fare well during the last fiscal. It was a clear winner for the Top Telecom Cables Company Award.



Bharti Tele-Ventures made it big in cellular services, braving an aggressive new entrant BSNL, and CDMA operators. The Top Cellular Service Provider award went to AirTel from Bharti Tele-Ventures. The Top Enterprise Voice Solutions Award went to Tata Telecom.

The Top ILD Operator award was presented to VSNL. Datacraft upstaged Wipro, the leader in the network integration services for the past several years, to become the the Top Network Integration Company this year. It was also No. 1 in Network Security Services, and Network Management Services.



BSNL, owing to its tremendous reach across the country, reigned supreme in National Long Distance Services.

In VSAT Services, Hughes Escorts Communications Ltd., not only reinforced its position as the market leader but also reinvented itself as a comprehensive service provider, to bag the Top VSAT Service Provider award. Agilent Technologies maintained its leadership position in providing T&M solutions to get the Top Test & Measurement Equipment Vendor Award. Nokia’s evergreen standards in the GSM handset market, bagged it the Top GSM Handset Vendor Award.

Tata Consultancy Services, beat the previous leader Wipro to grab the Top Telecom Software Company Award. Cisco Systems continued its leadership in the LAN switch segment to collect the Top LAN Switch Vendor Award. The Top CDMA handset vendor award was bagged by LG. In a year, when most VSAT equipment vendors did not exactly perform well, Hughes Network Systems did exceptionally well to once again emerge as the market leader and bag the Top VSAT Equipment Company Award.

Avaya India, maintained its leadership position to become the Top Structured Cabling Company of the fiscal 2002. Mr. PV Kumar, Country Manager, Avaya, collected the award. A consolidation spree helped Agrani emerge as the Top Radio Trunking Operator. The Top Transmission Equipment Company award went to Nortel. Cisco Systems remained the leading player in the Routers business, with 87 percent market share, and was the clear winner for The Top Router Vendor Award. The Top Modem Vendor Award went to MRO Tek.

(CNS)