VNL Board Members
Rajiv Mehrotra — Chairman
With a background as an electronics engineer, Rajiv Mehrotra is the Chairman & Managing Director of Shyam Telecom – the leading provider of RF equipment and systems for indoor coverage and capacity.
A technology and communication pioneer, Rajiv founded the Shyam group of companies that today have a footprint in all areas of telecom, and revenues in the region of $60 million.
In 1974, he laid the foundation of the cable TV revolution in India by pioneering local manufacturing of low-cost satellite equipment.
Shyam Telelink – another of his companies – was one of the first operators in the world to deploy CDMA technology for fixed wireless services. He also founded Hexacom – the first GSM operator in Rajasthan (one of India’s largest states).
He is a member of various industry associations – including ABTO (Association of Basic Telecom Operators), COAI (Cellular Operators Association of India), FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry), CII (Confederation of Indian Industry), and TEMA (Telecom Equipment Manufacturers Association).
Rajiv founded VNL in 2004. His wealth of experience within telecom, combined with his far-reaching contacts into both the private and public sectors of telecom, makes him an ideal mentor for the company.
Udit Mehrotra — Director
Udit has been instrumental in creating the overall market strategy for VNL - including defining the market proposition, building a network of partners and developing strategic partnerships. Key to his position is to understand the needs of the customers and stakeholders of the company in rural and remote areas.
His dedicated involvement in Shyam Group has included both regulatory and market aspects of the telecom industry, and he has been actively involved in both telecom regulation and licensing. He also led the international foray of Shyam group through the acquisition of the low power GSM license in UK.
Udit has also worked for several international companies, including Lehman Brothers and Lucent Technologies.
He holds a Master of Science in Telecommunication Management and a Bachelor of Engineering in Electrical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology, USA.
Kapil Puri — Director
A graduate in Computer Engineering from Mumbai University, with over eighteen years of experience in enterprise management, Kapil Puri is the Chairman & Managing Director of Spanco – one of the leading networking and systems integration solutions companies in India.
His visionary leadership has resulted in Spanco’s unique business model, as well as contributed to the sustained growth of the company.
Spanco was founded by Kapil in 1995. From providing telecom integration services to multinational companies, public sector units and India’s vast Defense sector, Spanco has also extended its expertise into the Call Centre sector as well as Business Process Outsourcing.
3,300 employees strong, the company is spread over nine locations in India – Mumbai, Pune, Ahmedabad, Gurgaon, Kolkata, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Guwahati.
Kapil brings both Indian business intelligence as well as telecom industry expertise to VNL.
B.A. Majmudar — Director
With a Master of Technology degree from IIT in Kanpur, one of the premier technical universities in India, B.A. Majmudar is CEO of Shyam Telecom – a global Coverage Solutions Provider that supplies equipment to around 100 operators in 40+ countries.
He has broad experience within telecom – managing networks for leading banks, working with AT&T Bell Laboratories in 5ESS switching and Network Management, and planning and implementing cellular networks as V.P. of Engineering at Nynex Mobile (which merged to become Verizon Wireless).
As president of Qualcomm’s south Asia operation to promote CDMA technology, and Qualcomm’s operations in India and other south Asian countries, B.A. Majmudar’s efforts brought CDMA technology to India.
B.A. brings invaluable telecom industry experience and technology expertise to VNL — invaluable for both business and product development.
T. Narasimhan — Director
T. Narasimhan brings 25 years of experience in the Telecom domain to VNL. Before joining VNL, he worked as President in Shyam Group handling Corporate Affairs, including regulation and Government relations.
Before joining Shyam, he worked as Vice President of Marketing with LG Systems Pvt Ltd, the Indian arm of LG group handling CDMA infrastructure, and was instrumental in introducing LG CDMA infrastructure products in India. Prior to this assignment, Mr. Narasimhan worked as Chief General Manager in the Escorts group, where he was involved in the formation of Escotel Mobile, winning GSM licenses, transformation of the manufacturing unit into a large-scale business and forming a joint venture with LG Korea.
He is a Post Graduate in Commerce and holds a Post Graduate Diploma in Marketing and Sales Management.
Anil Raj — Director
Anil is a mobile industry veteran with roots tracing back to the early days of analog cellular. After working with various Ericsson companies in Asia Pacific, Anil founded Hutchison India - now the country’s second largest operator (acquired by Vodafone).
Prior to joining VNL, Anil was at Ericsson where among several senior management roles, he served as President of Ericsson’s India operations, and also headed the company’s Smartphone business. During this period, he led the company’s development and launch of the world’s first Smartphone, and also the world’s first commercial Bluetooth product.
He spearheaded and managed the succesful merger of the handset businesses of Ericsson and Sony and went on to serve as Chief Strategy Officer of Sony Ericsson.
Anil has served on the Board of Ericsson Microsoft Mobile Venture and was also instrumental in forging the Symbian initiative where he has held a position on the Board of Directors and as Chairman.