Gurmeet Likhari, Group President, MobileComm Professionals, Inc.

Gurmeet Likhari, group pre­si­dent, MobileComm­ Pro­fessionals Inc., has more than 25 years of experience in the telecom networks domain. A telecom engineer by training, he started his career in 1991 with a telecom equipment manufacturer and later moved to the cellular industry, joining Essar Cell-phone at a time when the government was allocating GSM licences. He then spent several years at Marconi Wireless (the erstwhile MSI), where he managed telecom networks in the US, Europe and Southeast Asia, before founding the Mobile­Comm Group in 2002. Over the past 15 years, the group has grown significantly, and today has over 800 employees across nine companies, with multiple ventures in the telecom space. Its primary focus though is on wireless services and products.

“Technology is evolving at an exponential rate, making the telecom industry very dy­n­a­­mic. The challenge is to keep the business viable in such an environment. I wish to keep MobileComm ahead of the curve by enhancing its portfolio with next-generation offerings,” says Likhari. He sees the convergence of telecom and IT as a key emerging trend.

“There is enough cross-pollination between the two seg­­­ments. Expertise in one do­main is not enough to sustain oneself in the telecom in­dustry. Moreover, machine learning is evolving fast,” he says. Talking about the most memorable moments in his telecom journey, Likhari goes back 13 years to 2004 when cellular operators were mandated to roll out a new tech­nical feature in the network within a certain timeline. “As this was a new feature, the technical know-how and testing procedures were limited. The client was in a rush and offered MobileComm a handsome price to deliver. The project was high risk given that we were treading an unknown path. But we took it on in good faith. We developed new testing methodologies, created an efficient implementation plan, and were able to deliver the pr­o­­­­ject not only on time but with a cost-effective strategy, whi­ch led to a trustworthy part­ner­ship with our client,” he says.

Likhari is fond of photography and in his spare time, creates portfolios for people pursuing caree­rs in modelling, acting or fashion. He also en­joys cooking, es­pecially spicy Indian grills. “My family and friends love my recipes,” he says. His family comprises his wife Rosy, a telecom engineer who has worked on many ­con­sulting projects across the US; a daughter, who is studying to be a doctor; and a son, who is a 12th grader interested in pursuing engineering in nanotechnology.