Who's who

Shri Ritu Ranjan Mittar is an Indian Telecommunication Services Officer of 1985 Batch. With over 35 years of experience in the telecommunications industry, Sh. Mittar has worked on various projects related to the development and deployment of the telecommunications network. He has contributed to policy making in Department of Telecommunications, Government of India. He has also been involved in the development of various technical standards and specifications for the telecommunications industry, including Quantum, 5G, IoT, and M2M technologies. He is actively participating in the meetings of standards development organizations, viz., ITU, ETSI, APT, WRC, etc. and also interacts with other international fora, viz., 3GPP, ETSI, IETF, One M2M, etc. He held the important leadership position from India as Chairman of International Telecommunication Union (ITU-T) Study Group 11, which deals with the international standardization of “Signalling requirements, protocols, test specifications and combating counterfeit telecommunication/ICT devices”. He was Advisor and headed the Telecommunication Engineering Centre, the technical and standardization arm of Department of Telecommunications, Government of India. He also chaired the World Telecommunication Standardization Assembly (WTSA), 2024. At present, he is Member in Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

Dr M P Tangirala is a former officer of the Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service (1990 batch). He joined government service after obtaining a BE in civil engineering from College of Engineering, Guindy, and a PGDM from IIM Calcutta, and working briefly with an advertising agency. He is also alumnus of Osmania University (law), Indian Institute of Public Administration, and Jawaharlal Nehru University, where he obtained his PhD in law and governance. His PhD thesis on Institutional aspects of regulatory governance: A case study of the Indian telecom services sector, was published as a book, Telecom Sector Regulation in India: An Institutional Perspective, by Routledge in 2019. He has also authored scholarly articles and opinion pieces on various subjects.

In his career in government, he has worked in different functional areas of telecom policy, law, and regulation, administration, personnel management and training, insurance regulation, and financial services. He has extensive regulatory work experience, having worked for three stints in TRAI (as Director, Advisor, and Principal Advisor), and once as Executive Director in the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI). He has served in different capacities in the Department of Telecommunications, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL), and Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), and as Additional Secretary in the Department of Financial Services (DFS). He has been on the government nominee director on the Board of, among others, Tata Communications Ltd, BSNL, Indian Bank, Bank of Baroda, National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC), and General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re). He was also Part-Time Member, IRDAI during his stint in DFS.

His telecom sector expertise spans revenue assurance, information technology applications, financial advice for procurements/ contracts, training, licensing policy, spectrum valuation, tariff regulation, vigilance, and policy litigation. He has an abiding interest in the economics of regulation, and the institutional interplay between different stakeholders in the regulatory landscape.

Prof. Ranjan Bose is currently serving his second term as the Director of IIIT-Delhi. Prior to joining IIIT-Delhi, he spent over 20 years at IIT Delhi in the Department of Electrical Engineering, where he held the prestigious Microsoft Chair Professor position for 8 years. He has also served as the Head of the Bharti School of Telecom Technology and Management and the founding Head of the Center of Excellence in Cyber Systems and Information Assurance at IIT Delhi.

Prof. Bose received his B.Tech. degree in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur, and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Electrical Engineering from the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, USA. He gained industry experience at Alliance Semiconductor in San Jose, USA, before embarking on his academic career at IIT Delhi.

Prof. Bose has published over 70 refereed journal papers, 102 conference papers, and holds 13 patents (including 8 granted Indian patents, 1 granted US patent, 1 granted European patent). He has supervised 18 doctoral students and managed sponsored projects valued at over Rs. 370 crore. He has been listed in the top 2% of scientists worldwide for three consecutive years according to the Stanford University database. His international research collaborations span five universities in the US, Germany, Japan, Norway, and Estonia. Additionally, he is the Principal Investigator for the Technology Innovation Hub at IIIT- D, which has a financial outlay of Rs. 100 crore and focuses on deep-tech startups.

He is the author of the widely recognized book "Information Theory, Coding and Cryptography" (3rd Ed.), which has over 260 citations, an international edition, and translations into Chinese and Korean. Prof. Bose also co-founded Virtual wire Technologies, a faculty-student startup at IIT Delhi. Prof. Bose is the national coordinator for the Ministry of Education’s Mission Project on Virtual Labs, which enables students across India to perform laboratory experiments remotely. This project has seen over 12 million usages and has established 1600 nodal centers nationally. His contributions extend to the National Program on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) and the National Pedagogy Project, with his NPTEL course on Wireless Communications garnering over 2,000,000 cumulative views. He has served on the editorial boards of IEEE Access and Computers & Security (Elsevier), and was the Editor-in-Chief of the IETE Journal of Education.

Prof. Bose holds several significant positions, including on the Board of Governors of IIIT Guwahati, Governing Council of SETS, Governing Council of CRIS, Chairman of the Search Committee for Director DIA-CoE at IIT Kharagpur, member (PT) TRAI, and member of the Search cum Selection Committee for Director of IIIT Una. He has served on numerous reputed committees such as the Security Advisory Board of GSTN,the IDEA steering committee, the Technology Advisory Group of Empowered Technology Group of the Office of the PSA, the CII National Committee on R&D & Innovation, and the Delhi Knowledge and Development Fund (DKDF). His expertise has been sought as a Domain Expert for DRDO, SAG, NATGRID, Delhi Police, and BPR&D, and he has served as a Jury Member for the Dataquest ICT Business Awards in 2023 and 2024. He is also on the Board of Directors of Delhi Research Implementation and Innovation (DRIIV), a Section 8 company supported by the Office of the PSA.

Prof. Bose's accolades include the Dr. Vikram Sarabhai Research Award, the National Systems Gold Medal, the URSI Young Scientist Award, the INAE Young Engineers Award, the AICTE Career Award for Young Teachers, and the BOYSCAST Fellowship. He is a Fellow of the IET (UK) and a Humboldt Fellow (Germany)

Neelkanth Mishra is Chief Economist, Axis Bank. He is also the Head of Global Research and a Whole Time Director of Axis Capital. He has been consistently rated the best analyst in India in investor polls over the years. A highly respected expert and media columnist on global and Indian macroeconomic trends, he joined Axis in May 2023 after a long and distinguished two-decade career at Credit Suisse, where he was Co-Head of Asia Pacific Strategy and the India Strategist. 

He is a part-time member of the Indian Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council as well as part-time Chairman of UIDAI (Aadhaar) and a part-time member of the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). He has also advised government bodies like the India Semiconductor Mission and the 15th & 16th Finance Commission. He is a member of the CII’s Economic Affairs Council, and a frequent presenter to corporate boards. He has also worked at HUL and Infosys. He is a gold-medalist and Distinguished Alumnus Awardee from IIT-Kanpur and was ranked fourth in the entrance exam to the IITs.

Mr. Atul Kumar Chaudhary is an Indian Telecommunication Service Officer belonging to 1989 Batch. He is presently working as Secretary, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) at New Delhi and is coordinating all the activities related to Telecom & Broadcasting sectors.

He is an alumnus of IIT Roorkee and the Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), holds a Master's Diploma in Public Policy & Administration. Previously, he held the position of Deputy Director General at the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), and prior to that, he served as DDG at the Department of Telecommunications (DoT). He worked in various capacities in the personnel, human resource (HR), administration, licensing, vigilance divisions of Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and DoT

Mr. Abhay Shanker Verma is working as Principal Advisor and Head of Broadcasting & Cable Services Division in Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

He is an officer of 1989 Batch of Indian Telecom Service (ITS) and has more than 33 years of experience in Telecom/ ICT Sector.

Presently, in TRAI, he is associated with the policy and regulatory work related to Broadcasting & Cable Services including Cable TV, Satellite TV (DTH), IPTV, Radio broadcasting, Digital Addressable System, 5G Broadcast, Television Audience Measurements, Interconnection and QoS issues.

After joining TRAI, he has been instrumental in review of the Regulatory framework for Broadcasting and Cable Services, Recommendations on Regulatory framework for Ground-based Broadcasters, Recommendations on Framework for Service Authorizations for provision of Broadcasting Services under the Telecommunications Act, 2023, Recommendations on Listing of television channels in Electronic Programme Guide and Upgradation of DD Free Dish platform to an Addressable System. Currently, he is working on Recommendations on Reserve Price for FM Radio in Hilly areas and Recommendations on Digital Radio Broadcast Policy for private Radio Broadcasters.

He has worked in various positions in telecom domain including installation, operation & maintenance of telecom networks, telecom licensing and policy formulation, telecom regulation and standardization.

During the Study Period 2022-24, Mr. Verma held the position of Vice-Chair and Promotion Officer of ITU-T SG13 as well as Associate Rapporteur of Q5/13 in ITU-T SG13. Currently, he is holding the position of Associate Rapporteur of Q5/13 in ITU-T SG13. He has been instrumental in formulating six (06) ITU-T Recommendations, namely, Y.3056, Y.3527, Y.3181, Y.2325, Y.3059 and Y.3187.

As General Manager (P&IS) in National Highways Authority of India (2009-14), he was instrumental in many Highway Automation Projects including “1033” “Save-lives” Pilot project, e-tolling (FASTAG), Centralized Toll Monitoring system, Automatic traffic counting & classification (ATCC) system etc.

He was also deputed as “EXPERT” for evaluating the ICT projects in Bhutan funded by India in the year 2004.

He is an Electrical Engineering Graduate and holds M. Tech. Electronics Engineering (Microwave Engineering) from IIT, BHU, Varanasi; MBA (Finance) from FMS, Delhi University; and LLB Degree from CCS University.

S.B. Singh is an officer of Indian Telecom Service, Department of Telecommunications (DoT), Government of India. He joined this service in the year 1991. He has specialization in licensing and regulatory framework in Telecommunication and related ICT sectors.

Presently working as Principal Advisor in TRAI and Head of Network, Spectrum and Licensing Division since March 2024. Worked as Deputy Director General (G-20) in DoT during the period from April 2022 to February 2024.

Managed seamless Telecom services including 5G during 200 meetings held at 65 locations in India during the G-20 presidency.

While working in Access Services unit of DoT during 2018-2022 was instrumental in bringing out the policy on licensing framework for small fixed line Virtual Network Operators (VNO) which enabled participation of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in providing Telecom Services in limited geographical areas.

As a nodal person handling licensing related policy issues, has initiated major steps for ease of doing business which includes, Licensing applications which were handled manually prior to the year 2019 was made online through a Saral Sanchar Portal and enabled the prospective licensees to apply for any license without any physical interaction.

Was also a key person in evolving a framework for Flight and Maritime Connectivity Rules which has been notified by the Government of India in December, 2018 enabling the provisions for Inflight connectivity in Indian airspace. Part of the DoT team which conceived and formalized the telecom reforms approved by the Union Cabinet in September, 2021.

During the year 2002-2009, he has worked in Quality Assurance Wing of BSNL, a public sector service provider, and was heading a core group involved in testing and certification of core and access equipment.

He has taken lectures on Next Generation Transport Technologies including MPLS-TP/MPLS-IP and also on evolution of licensing and regulatory framework in India. He has a vast experience of almost 30 years in all the fields of telecom which includes operation of telecom networks, testing and certification of telecom equipment and formulating policies for licensing framework

Tejpal Singh has more than 25 year experience in telecom and IT field. Currently he is working as Advisor(Quality of Services) with Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) at New Delhi At TRAI, he is responsible for setting the standards for quality of service in India and monitoring their compliance. TRAI has notified new QoS standards recently on 2nd August 2024.

Before joining TRAI in January 2023, Tejpal Singh was handling the work of numbering resource administration in Ministry of Communication. During 2010 to 2013, he has played an important role in implementation of AADHAAR project which is considered to be the largest biometric based identity management system in the world.

Between 2000 to 2010, he has been instrumental in planning and implementation of IT and new technology projects in State owned telecom service provider. In BSNL, he has implemented Intelligent Network and Convergent Billing Systems for fixed line services.

He was also responsible for planning, development and implementation of customised pan-India centralised Network Management System for BharatNet project.

Mr. Akhilesh Kumar Trivedi is working as Advisor in Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI). He is associated with the work related to mobile networks, frequency spectrum and telecom licensing.

Mr. Trivedi belongs to 1998 Batch of Indian Telecom Service (ITS) officers and has got 26 years of experience in the telecom services sector. He has worked in various positions in telecom domain including installation, operation & maintenance of telecom networks, telecom licensing and telecom regulation.

He is an engineering graduate in Electronics & Telecommunications from the University of Allahabad. He also holds Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Lucknow, and LLB Degree from the University of Delhi.

Mr. Abdul Kayum is an Advisor at the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) in New Delhi and a distinguished officer of the Indian Telecom Service. He currently serves as the Chair of the SATRC Spectrum Group and Vice Chair of ITU Study Group 12 (Performance, QoS, and QoE).

Previously, Mr. Kayum worked as Deputy Director General (DDG) at the Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC), where he was responsible for developing TEC standards in emerging areas such as 6G Technologies, Quantum Communication, Next Generation Passive Optical Networks, and Sustainable Telecommunications. During his tenure, he played a pivotal role in advancing standards related to Quantum Key Distribution and Post-Quantum Cryptographic Systems, making significant contributions to the field of telecommunications sustainability through the development of TEC’s Energy Consumption Rating and Energy Passport standards.

He has also chaired National Working Group 12 and served as editor at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU). As a key contributor to various task forces, Mr. Kayum has been actively involved in formulating strategies for 6G and Quantum Communication Technologies.

At the international level, Mr. Kayum contributes to multiple ITU-T Study Groups, including SG-5 (Environment and Circular Economy), SG-12 (Performance, QoS, and QoE), SG-13, and SG-15 (Networks, Technologies and Infrastructures for Transport, Access, and Home). He is also involved in working groups of the IEEE Standards Association (SA), particularly in Quantum Technologies.

A prolific author, Mr. Kayum has published numerous papers in International Journals, ITU-T, and the Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC), solidifying his position as a thought leader in the telecom industry.

Brajendra Kumar belongs to Indian Telecom Service of Govt. of India of 1992 batch. Presently he is heading the Bengaluru Regional Office of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India as Advisor.

With over 31 years of experience in telecom sector, he has been part of the telecom journey encompassing several domains spread across Projects, Planning, Policy, Administration, Operations, Testing and Standardisation. He has worked in diverse organisations across India including MTNL, BSNL, DoT, TEC and Bangalore Metro Rail Corporation. He has passion for problem solving through innovation and technology. Throughout his career he has been member of several policy formulating committees and has contributed significantly to policy initiatives

He completed his B. Tech (E&C) with VC medal from GB Pant University Pantnagar, Uttarakhand, ME from NIT Prayagraj and MBL from NLSIU Bengaluru.