Rajat Kumar Arora, Chief Commercial Officer for Enterprise & Managed Services, Spectra
Rajat Kumar Arora has spent over two decades in the Indian telecom services industry. Currently, as chief commercial officer, enterprise and managed services business, Spectra, he is on a mission to establish the company as a market leader in managed services and software-defined network solutions. He is involved in the designing of the company’s managed services portfolio and building a stronger footprint in the enterprise segment. “While my entire journey since 1996 is special to me, the current role excites me the most as this is the first assignment where I am working on the fully integrated IT and telecom needs for a vastly underserved customer segment,” he adds.
When asked about his views on the upcoming trends in the telecom sector, Arora says, “On the consumer side, the learnings from large developing economies suggest that high-speed (office or home) broadband (HSBB) adoption surges only after the large-scale deployment of high speed mobile broadband has been achieved. In India, the uptake of HSBB would gain traction 2019 onwards due to a variety of factors both on the demand and the supply side. While better infrastructure (like optical fibre) availability will be a key driving factor, consumer demand for more data and higher speeds for residential connections will also contribute to it. On the B2B side, the increasing footprint of internet coupled with new software-defined networks will enable businesses to leverage cost-effective managed services compared to traditional technologies like MPLS.”
Arora has a degree in commerce from University of Rajasthan and an MBA in marketing from R.A. Poddar Institute of Management. He has also completed an advance management programme from ISB-Kellogg.
The industry veteran considers his ability to make informed decisions based on the combination of his gut and data as one of his key strengths. As for his management style, it’s a mix of consultative and democratic functioning. “However, I am currently re-discovering it owing to my new role, which requires me to step in as a playing captain for the team,” he adds.
He spends most of his free time online. “Internet is a big source of knowledge and entertainment for me. I like reading up about new things online and watching all kinds of over-the-top content.”
His family comprises his parents and his wife Srishti, who is following her passion on social and green initiatives.
