Debashish Bhattacharya, Co-Chairman, Broadband India Forum (BIF), Satcom Committee

Debashish Bhattacharya has been in the IT and telecom networks industry for a little over three decades. He has worked primarily in the network equipment sector with companies like Alcatel-Lucent, Siemens (NSN), ZTE, Alcatel-Modi and Lucent Technolo­gies/Tata-Lucent, and has also been associated with telecom infrastructure companies like Acme Telepower.

Bhattacharya joined BIF two years ago and is a part of the consulting team that is involved in telecom policies, and regulatory matters and issues. He is also a member of the executive council of BIF, where he leads the efforts in the Satcom Policy and regulatory sector. Ask him and he would say that his stint at BIF so far has been both exciting and challenging. “I realised that I had an opportunity to play a vital role in being a part of the movement to encourage overall growth of the entire broadband ecosystem in a truly holistic manner. When the new government announced the Digital India initiative in 2015, it was almost like giving my new vehicle the wings it needed to fly. Here I am now, totally immersed in doing my bit to help BIF shape the national policies and regulations that can acce­lerate the pace of broadband penetration in the country. Also, my role as co-chairman of the Satcom Committee in BIF has taken me to territories in the Satcom space never explored before,” he says.

To Bhattacharya, the future of the telecom sector looks very exciting. “The Indian telecom sector is on the cusp of a huge revolution. Never before has any entity shaken its foundations like the Internet. In fact, it has led to a huge disruption in traditional and legacy models of understanding of communications, and the way of doing business.”

An alumnus of St Columba’s, New Delhi, Bhattacharya holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from IIT Roorkee and is an MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi. In his spare time, he loves to read, listen to music, and keep abreast of current affairs and sports. His wife, holding a doctorate in Physics, is a subject matter expert in the area of climate change. His daughter is a copywriter in a leading integrated digital marketing and advertising company. When asked about the targets that he has before him, Bhattacharya says, “Since I have moved to a new sphere of activity related to policies and regulations, I aspire to leave my mark in this sector in some form some day.”