Vasudevan Rajagopalan considers his deep understanding of the evolving global and Indian technology landscape as his key strength. As vice president, sales, Vertiv India, he keeps himself abreast with global technology trends and accordingly lends support to Vertiv’s Indian consumers and helps them meet their infrastructure requirements.
A technology enthusiast, Rajagopalan believes that the Indian telecom sector is set to witness significant developments in areas like internet of things (IoT), artificial intelligence (AI) and 5G over the next two to three years. “The next major trend that will impact telecommunications is the explosion of connected devices. IoT will add billions of new connected data sources globally in the comming years. Becoming an IoT connectivity service provider and offering M2M devices can open up new streams of revenue for the telcos,” he says. He considers AI to be a key emerging trend in the telecom sector.
According to him, 4G will remain a mainstream technology for some time as telcos work simultaneously on lab and field trials of 5G networks. He expects the industry to employ new technologies like multiple input, multiple output (MIMO), orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM), software-defined networking (SDN)/network function virtualisation (NFV), carrier aggregation and spectrum refarming till the commercialisation of 5G. “5G will help telcos gain revenue in the fixed broadband market and create B2B opportunities such as smart cities and IoT,” he adds. The technology is going to present a huge opportunity for telecom infrastructure companies as well. “Carriers are investing in new infrastructure such as micro networks and tower fiberisation to adapt to this change,” he says.
In terms of challenges, Rajagopalan feels that the recent phase of consolidation has led to a contraction of telcos’ overall profits during the past few years. “Given the ongoing pressure on ARPUs and margins, purchasing spectrum at a high price in cities like Delhi and Mumbai will put further stress on telcos’ balance sheets,” he says.
In terms of management style, Rajagopalan has adopted an empowered sales management approach with a keen focus on enabling returns to stakeholders. He is an electrical engineer and has done a course in management leadership from IIM Ahmedabad.
Rajagopalan is a passionate sports follower and he enjoys travelling in his spare time. His family comprises his wife, who is a teacher, and their two children – a daughter, who is pursuing engineering, and a son, who is a high school student.
