Col (Dr) Akash Ghosh, Chief Technology Officer Passive Infrastructure, Globacom
A Professional with 39 Years of Telecom Experience
both in the Indian Army and Corporate in Telecommunications GSM (Projects)
Communications, Operations, and Service Delivery & Assurance in leading
organizations globally. Having led organizations in Southeast Asia and Western
African telecom infrastructure development for GSM rollout projects and
operations.
Globacom and Services
Globacom is the second-largest MNO in western Africa
(Nigeria), the Benin Republic, and Ghana but is focused in Nigeria now for 2,
3, and 4G projects and operations. The company offers voice and data services
across Nigeria and owns its own submarine cables and landing stations for
providing Internet to both enterprise customers and large and small SME’s. The
company is a complete end-to-end solution provider for IBS and FTTX. The
company has a massive layout of fiber in the country with complete redundancy.
The company has generated enormous employment and business opportunities for
the indigenous population while also welcoming the Indians from the telecom
industry and also from the Indian Army. Dr. Col Akash Ghosh is currently
working as the CTO for infrastructure rollout and its operations and is part of
the Management Committee of the organization.
Dr.
Col Akash Ghosh with his multi-cultural team
Globacom, an indigenous African organization, benefits
from his expertise as a strategic planner. He possesses the skills to relate
issues to the local context and ensure that strategies align with the culture
and ethics of the society where the company operates. This enables the effective
execution of tactical actions and processes, easily adopted by various ethnic
and cultural groups, maximizing operations for business and aligning with the
organization's vision. The company recognizes the importance of integrating new
employees into its organizational ethics, tailored to the country, region, and
company. Unlike Indian or Western companies, the company understands that a
one-size-fits-all approach won't work in its context, requiring adaptability to
local culture, tribal organization, and community issues - a challenge that
many foreign companies face in regional operations, but one that the company
navigates successfully.
Professional Expertise
His professional expertise stems from his training in the Army and extensive experience staying with troops. Most of his time in the Indian Army was spent with various units, where he gained hands-on experience. He gained hands-on experience on all types of telecom equipment by planning and executing telecom engineering designs during actual operations and various exercises. This experience gave him the confidence to carry out innovations in both project planning and execution and operations and also encouraged him to adopt an out-of-the-box approach, which has been his unique selling proposition (USP) in his corporate journey.
He carefully plans leading both fresh and experienced
teams, encouraging new members to learn and develop interest in their work,
while also prioritizing the growth of experienced members within the
organization. As experienced members may soon find their tasks monotonous, he
continually devises methodologies to align HR growth with business growth.
Additionally, he always maintains contingency plans, known as plans B and C,
which can be launched at any time to address weaknesses in projects or operations.
This strategic approach was learned during his 21 years and 11 months of
service in the Army, where he developed strong leadership skills.
After leaving the Army, he began his corporate journey
with TULIP Telecoms as a regional project manager, overseeing enterprise
customers. In this role, he learned the intricacies of customer management and
the challenges of delivering stable bandwidth. He proactively planned ahead of
sales to ensure a steady supply of bandwidth for customers, a daunting task
given the luxury status of internet at the time, with 10 MBPS being sold at 1
lakh. Through this experience, he discovered that building connections with
various levels within the organization was crucial to achieving his goals
seamlessly.
He was then promoted to Regional Head of Operations
and Project, where he gained experience in Presales, Service Delivery, and
Assurance. He subsequently seized an opportunity to roll out the last 2G
Greenfield Project for Idea Cellular in J&K as Project Manager at Ericsson.
His prior experience at Tulip gave him an edge in customer communications and
setting customer expectations, which proved crucial in successfully rolling out
the project with positivity and team spirit. He treated the Idea Cellular team
as an integral part of his team, and after the project, he oversaw almost all
Ericsson circles in North for Idea, where the challenges were greater and
expectations higher. By focusing on processes, precise planning and execution,
and extensive travel for face-to-face meetings, he ensured that customer
expectations were met, instilling a sense of ownership among customers. This
key learning has stayed with him, influencing his approach as COO of a tower
company in Myanmar (Burma) and Nigeria since 2011.
Awards and Recognitions
He was awarded the Best Customer Project Manager while
at Ericsson and has maintained strong relationships with the current Ericsson
India team. He attributes the recognition received from customers and Ericsson
management to his team, including those who worked alongside him on the ground
and those who provided support from the back end, as well as the customers who
consistently supported them due to the strong bond they built together.
Advice to the Young Generation
His advice to the new generation is that they should
be focused and manage their time while they should plan in detail before
execution of any project and that a detailed communication plan must be shared
with the customer and adhered to at whatever cost. This encourages and instills
bonding with the organization's delivery team. While processes must be adhered
to. According to him, one should also keep on upgrading the industry skills
regularly and keep themselves abreast with the latest developments and innovations
in the industry. Identifying risks is key to both projects and operations; one
has to keep updating the risk registers. This will help the technology project
and operations managers to constantly be ahead of the assignments. This is a
key quality of the leader. As a leader, one must take a decision rather than
taking no decision and this will help them to gain confidence with the team and
they look at him who leads them. He added that while we should be constantly
bonding with our immediate team members, this results in an “achieving team.”
One should always be mentally alert to catch any unspoken indications around as
a leader; this will help them to align better and connect better with everyone.
He strongly recommends that one should read for at
least an hour daily, making it a habit, and engage in team games and hobbies to
help destress from demanding work schedules. He also suggests participating in
team-building activities that connect with nature, such as biking, trekking, or
camping. He emphasizes that there is more to life than just corporate life and
that a healthy mind and body are essential for one's team. Lastly, he stresses
the importance of being passionate about whatever one does with a positive
mindset.
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