Ambrish Jain still remembers his first days at Escotel, during the early days of the telecom liberalisation. He and the rest of his team, all from different backgrounds, had come together, without any knowledge of the industry, to try to create something unknown.
“The pace of decision-making was fast, the risks were high, and it was learning while playing. The learning was immense. A lot of hard work with exhaustingly long hours daily for months together. But the excitement of giving birth to a new business was really extraordinary,” he says.
And the excitement, albeit on a different level, continues in his current post as chief operating officer of Idea Cellular. The difference is that the industry has matured since. Now the excitement comes from running profitable operations while competing with large players and world-class brands.
Jain has been in the telecom industry for the past 13 years, almost since privatisation began in India. During this time, he has undertaken a variety of roles, including heading sales and marketing at the national level, heading the operations of a cluster of circles, and launching operations in many new circles.
Currently, he is responsible for the company’s topline and bottomline, market share, operational efficiency, development of key human resources, and strategic support to the company.
“I have been quite stable in my career and have not changed many jobs. I have been with Idea (including my stint with the erstwhile Escotel) for the past six years now,” he says.
Jain says he is happy to be part of the telecom industry in these exciting and challenging times. One of the challenges he faces today is providing services in rural areas, where the paying capacity of customers is low. “The big question is how to service these far-out areas and make these rollouts commercially viable,” he says.
There are several other challenges as well. The industry as a whole faces a high level of levies and taxes by way of licence fees, spectrum charges, service tax, ADC, etc. “However, India still has a very low teledensity of below 20 per cent and so I see a good opportunity for growth in times to come.”
Jain predicts that competition will get increasingly more intense which will, in turn, result in an ever-increasing pressure on tariffs. Customer growth will continue at the current pace ?? approximately 6 to 7 million new customers every month ?? or even more than that. The day will soon come, he says, when every second or third person in India will have a mobile phone. Operators will have to focus not only on revenue growth but also on operational efficiency in order to maintain current margins.
In meeting these challenges, he believes that Idea Cellular’s human resources, its working environment and culture are some of its biggest strengths. “We develop our people well, empower them and allow enough flexibility to bring out the best in them,” he says.
His own strengths include teamwork, analytical skills, and an in-depth understanding of all aspects of the business. “I have handled various operations in diverse territories and I can see that bringing out the best operational synergies of my team is my biggest strength,” he says.
Where he is confident of people’s capabilities, he delegates. At times, this requires a lot of coaching and keeping a close watch. But Jain believes that it pays off in the long run because it helps people to develop.
“I spend a lot of time interacting with people right up to the junior level, and in markets. It keeps me hands-on with various issues, problems, customers and markets. I believe in participative management where I like to involve all concerned in decision-making and taking full ownership of execution as well as results. I am a keen learner and most of the time I find that solutions to almost all problems come from the team itself. One has to only make the people believe in themselves and align them with organisational goals,” he says.
If he is a successful manager, it is partly attributable to the values that his parents inculcated in him. They taught him to be a simple, straightforward, and good human being with no sense of guilt from having done something wrong deliberately. “This feeling of not being unfair to anyone alone gives me a lot of strength and inspiration,” he says.
Jain’s was a happy childhood ?? “the best part of my life,” he says. As the youngest in the family, he received the maximum attention of which he took undue advantage. He studied electrical engineering at IIT Delhi and then did an MBA from IIM Ahmedabad. “Good academic performance got me into the limelight first in school and then in college. Overall, it was a lot of fun and an absolutely carefree life. I wish I could live it all over again!”
His early ambition was to become a successful professional. “My other ambition is to give back to society and make some purposeful contribution to it. That is always in my thoughts and I hope it takes off soon.”
In spite of his hectic schedule, what keeps him going is the unflinching support that his wife affords him.
At home, Jain enjoys being with his family. He also likes travelling, watching movies and cricket, and reading books. A typical day starts with a cup of tea followed by a morning walk or yoga. Then he reads the newspapers before leaving for office. After a very busy day, he usually carries work home, working for a couple of hours more before finally packing up for the day. But for about a fortnight every month, this routine gets totally disrupted because of his travel schedule.
While Jain is away, his wife Rashmi is happy painting. Their home is full of her paintings and sketches. Their daughter Vashima has finished her MBA and is currently working with an multinational company. Their son Vaibhav is studying for a twin B.Tech.-MBA at a reputed institute.
