Developing something new gives me immense satisfaction,? says Ranjan Banerjee, head of strategy at Sistema Shyam TeleServices Limited (SSTL). ?I have been fortunate to play a key role in conceptualising business models and helping the company grow.?
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Banerjee brings to the table over 16 years of work experience in the corporate sector, of which eight were spent in the telecom space. He started his career in the sales, marketing and business development segment of Philips India Limited.
Subsequently, he worked with companies like Chevron Texaco, Reliance Communications and TTSL. For the past seven years, he was a part of TTSL?s telecom strategy and business development function. ?In this position, I led several important projects, such as 3G auctions and signing franchise arrangements with players like Virgin Mobile and the Future Group,? he says.
At SSTL, the main task before him is to establish a viable business with significant scale. ?The task is a challenging one, as we need to achieve these objectives in an extremely competitive, fast maturing market, which is at present going through regulatory uncertainty.?
However, Banerjee believes SSTL is equal to the challenge, given its commitment to the Indian market. The effort is to identify pockets of growth, focus on flawless execution for developing the business organically, and to proactively participate in the consolidation process in the market.
For him personally, ?the company?s long-term commitment to its investment projects in India in a very challenging telecom operating environment makes it a highly exciting and professionally rewarding place to work in?.
Interestingly, telecom was never Banerjee?s career of choice. In his younger days, he wanted to follow in the footsteps of Sunil Gavaskar. ?As a child, I was fascinated by cricket, Sunil Gavaskar in particular,? he recalls. ?I remember going to Eden Gardens when I was seven years old to watch Gavaskar play against England. I watched all the matches played in Eden Gardens for 19 consecutive years. But today, I get little or no time to watch matches in the stadium.?
Instead, he spends his spare time reading. He takes pride in having a small library at home. ?I enjoy reading a variety of books. I have just completed Boomerang by Michael Lewis, which gives quite a fascinating account of the current European debt crisis,? he says. Besides, he likes to travel and see the world. Last summer, it was Italy. ?It was rather interesting to travel around Italy and experience its culture,? he says.
