Krishnamachari Vijayaraghavan, Group CTO, Spice

A telecom veteran who has been associated with the sector from the time it began opening up, Krishnamachari Vijayaraghavan has had a long and chequered career. Now group CTO with Spice Communications, he is determined to run a world-class telecom network.

Krishnamachari Vijayaraghavan was inspired to enter the telecom sector in the days when it was just taking off, with visionary Sam Pitroda starting C-DOT and revolutionising telecom in the country. Vijayaraghavan decided that he wanted to be in the thick of all the action and in 1986, joined Ranutrol as general manager and set up the manufacturing unit for C-DOT EPABX.

In 1989, he moved to Samir Pagings Systems, where he helped set up the company’s first manufacturing unit for paging systems in India as part of a joint sector company with the Jammu & Kashmir government. Four years later, he moved to the RPG Group where he was required to implement and operate the company’s public paging network in three cities.

In 1996, Vijayaraghavan moved to Spice Telecom in Bangalore as vice-president, technical and operations. He set up and operated one of the first statewide GSM networks in Karnataka.Among other things, he commissioned 1,000 km of optic fibre backbone and integrated 18 cities; introduced costeffective measures to service and maintain BTS and backbone; implemented unique solutions to extend GSM coverage and increase customer penetration; and worked out schemes to increase revenue through optimal utilisation of backbone capacity. He also built an efficient and composite team with an inhome capability to build, install, commission and maintain the GSM network.

In 2000, he joined Bharti Airtel, managing its network in Delhi and subsequently helping to set up and manage the company’s southern network. “I helped set up an excellent network, which in turn contributed to the company’s movement towards rapid growth,” he says.

He loved this assignment because it involved bringing in change ?? total change ?? in the way the network was managed. He achieved this through a novel concept known as “managed services”. It was a challenging task as the telecom scenario was changing rapidly, with subscribers being added by the thousands, thanks to new telecom policies in 1999-2000, such as free incoming calls, which gave the cellular industry a new lease of life. There were other policy changes which enabled the industry to grow and reach the level it is at today.

“During my tenure at Bharti, I was part of the action and the company was very focused. It had introduced many new and innovative technologies that made it easy for us in the technology department to innovate and experiment in any way we wanted,” he recalls. At Bharti, Vijayaraghavan implemented GPRS and EDGE data networks in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. He made a significant contribution to the company’s revenue enhancement programme, and launched group enterprise solutions for corporate clients.

In June 2006, he decided to rejoin Spice Communications as group CTO. “The main challenge before me is to enhance network coverage, provide advanced data services and VAS, and enhance customer perception and experience. The prospects of successfully meeting the challenges are very bright and encouraging.”“The main enablers for this are futuristic management policies on network development, strong and experienced management leadership, a tie-up with one of the best telecom suppliers through a long-term contract, and the strong commitment of our operational team,” he says.

He is responsible for Spice Communications’ complete portfolio of technology-related activities. This includes planning the company’s technology roadmap, technology sourcing and adoption, finalising long-term supply and service agreements, focusing on new VAS growth engines, building the network, and providing the best service to customers.

Vijayaraghavan expects telecom penetration to increase. High growth will be accompanied by increased airtime usage. VAS and data services will contribute more to annual gross revenue and 3G services will be available on a trial basis in select metros.

An electronics engineer by qualification, Vijayaraghavan considers himself to be well versed in finance too. In fact, as a child growing up in Delhi (where his father worked as a government official), he had never wanted to become an engineer. His ambition was to be a doctor but he failed to clear the medical entrance tests. When he passed the entrance exam of an engineering college, his destiny was sealed.

After graduating in engineering from the University of Madras in 1976, Vijayaraghavan’s first job was as a service engineer with NSH Business Machines in Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh.He serviced cash registers as well as calculators, managed three regions, and trained the company’s engineers in manufacturing and servicing.

He joined Bionics Engineering in 1979 in New Delhi as chief engineer, managing the manufacturing for digital clocks and display systems and setting up standards for test assurance.

Later, he worked for Qualitronics in Chennai as project engineer and then for Usha Microprocessors and Controls in New Delhi in 1984. He has also worked with AutoControls Private Limited. In 1991, he completed his degree course in business administration from Annamalai University in Tamil Nadu.

Vijayaraghavan attributes his success to his vast experience in telecom management, out-of-the-box thinking, project management skills, and leadership and team-building abilities. “I am a leader who believes in involving each member of my team in every task. I do not do micro management and do not intervene unless targets are not met and my team needs support. I am a strong believer in a participative style of management. What I cannot tolerate is inefficiency,” he says.

He enjoys the work culture at Spice because it gives everyone full freedom to work. “The management honours my decisions and takes my advice in matters related to technology. Our weakness, however, is that the company is a regional operator unlike Bharti, which has a presence in all circles.”

A typical day starts at around 9.30 a.m. but the end is elastic, depending on when work finishes. Vijayaraghavan has to travel a lot from his base in Bangalore ?? often as much as 20 days in a month ?? to the corporate office in Delhi and to Punjab. He has two grownup daughters. One is studying in the UK and the other has followed his example and is studying engineering.

When Vijayaraghavan has any spare time, he enjoys reading, listening to music (Carnatic music in particular), working out at a gym, painting, gardening or doing carpentry. But he does not have much time for these activities. He also feels that with more time, he could have kept in touch with the vast circle of friends he had at school and college. A source of inspiration for him are the teachings of Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. “He points out the ground realities. What he says makes a lot of sense; there is truth in what he says.”