Mobile operators have trust issues
Indunil HEWAGE
A successful business is something that is built from good intentions
and the excellent results of good business owners.
Sierra Global Network (Pvt) Ltd which is a telecommunication services
company specializing in A to Z telecommunication and related services
makes new waves in the local industry providing unmatched and tailormade
products.
Today we feature Sierra Global Network Director and CEO Dr. Arosha
Fernando for this week's Tea with CEO column.
Dr. Fernando is recognized as one of the top corporates in his market
with his unsurpassable customer service. His well-trained team of
employees run the day-to-day jobs themselves, giving him with plenty of
time to do what he does best to run the business.
Here are the excerpts of the interview.
Q: How has the Sierra Global Network (Pvt) Ltd overall business
performance been so far?
This year is a turning point for us and have decided to expand our
businesses into new areas.
Our Board of Directors has decided to provide turnkey solutions for
our all clients continually. To be frank, the company had a bit of a
difficult time in 2008 and 2009 and the early part of 2010.
There were some bad patches and we were able to come out of it. The
company is optimistic of achieving future growth aspirations with the
new areas we are planning to tap in the near future.
Sierra Global Director and CEO Dr. Arosha Fernando Picture by
Sumanachandra Ariyawansa |
Q: How does your company make a mark in the telecommunication
industry in Sri Lanka?
Sierra Global Network Private Limited is a telecommunication services
company specializing in A to Z telecommunication and related services
covering the fields of network planning and site acquisition (inclusive
of site search, RND and TND, documentation, all government and related
approvals, site owner agreements and commercial power supply), site
development (all civil work including supply and construction of towers
and shelters), implementation (including installation and commissioning
of all types of Switches and BTS sites as well as micro wave links),
technical support, network services and other services.
The company will undertake all the civil work of telecommunication
towers and maintenance and has a separate division for network planning.
This division will assist the operators and they will determine where
the tower should be set up to have maximum benefits and where cover is
required.
Starting from network planning, the company embarked on acquiring
sites to set up telecommunication towers in Sri Lanka. Accordingly, we
will decide the required plots to set up the telecommunication towers
which will give a good coverage, and seamless connection to the next
towers. The company has a separate division for acquiring sites. Once
they acquire the lands, the company will physically build towers on
behalf of operators and will undertake all the civil work pertaining to
the TC tower construction.
It is the only company in Sri Lanka with in-house expertise to
undertake installation and commissioning of any type of
telecommunication equipment irrespective of the vendor and the
technology.
Q: As the CEO of the company, how do you support future growth
aspirations of the company?
I had my higher studies in Australia and worked for Ericsson which is
the premier leader in the global telecommunications industry.
I came down to Sri Lanka to undertake this position. As the CEO of
the Sierra Global Network, I had to take up this challenge and had to
look in to what services could be provided for our telecom operators.
I looked at new business areas and site acquisition is a major area
that I have developed by myself, which is something that I was doing in
Australia.
Operators do not want to have their own expert team and we will
shoulder their problems and give whatever the solutions they need ,
which is a very cost effective thing for them.
Recently, the company opened its Radio Frequency division. Once the
operator sets up the towers, the important ongoing process is the
optimization.
They need to see how many clients have been covered by the tower and
how many new clients have been joined to take their coverage and other
issues.
The RF division was set up with the intention of undertaking all
these issues and have employed 100 new people for the RF division to
conduct these activities.
Q: What is your comment on the local telecommunication industry in
Sri Lanka?
The time has come to combine the overcrowded local telecommunication
industry in the coming years with either mergers or acquisitions to
generate with profit for the existing companies.
The industry is dominated by five mobile operators and they serve
around 18 million to 20 million people.
At the moment Sri Lanka has an excessive number of operators and no
one is making much profit and they are losing. Having three mobile
operators would be an ideal number and it is vital to further regulate
the industry.
The Indian telecommunication industry also had to experience the same
scenario like Sri Lanka prior to regulating the market, However after
several years they all consolidated. I think Sri Lanka is in that kind
of process at the moment and there would be more changes in the local
telecommunication industry in the next two years.
In addition, operators have trust issues and don't believe in each
other.
We as a leading telecommunication solution provider in the country is
committed to play a mediator role by giving them a equivalent service
irrespective of their positions in the market. We are making our efforts
to bridge this gap among operators.
Q: What are your ongoing projects?
Most of our work is with Airtel, in addition to Hutch Lanka Bell,
Suntel, Etisalat and Dialog.
Q: How do you motivate your associates?
I am very happy to see the people motivated and look at their
personal development.
Since we are a project based company, majority of the people are
technical persons and I am making avenues for them to learn about latest
technologies in the global telecommunications industry.
They have been trained locally and internationally on project based
management skills.
Rather than their overheads, let outsource for them, we will have one
expert team for all operators.
Going one step forward company has plans to set up a single tower
where all the operators can share it. That is a kind of concept that I
am working towards at the moment.
Earlier having a network is a great thing, it's like a kind of asset.
But nowadays it's the service, differentiation of services will
assist the operators to achieve their set targets in the future. The
operators might have a better coverage, but that is not the
differentiating factor anymore. its about providing the right service,
right prices and right coverage at the right time.
Q: When it comes to constructing towers, how does your company
catch up with the latest trends in the world?
You need to have the right strategy to keep abreast with the latest
technologies in the world. In the future, there might not be a good
demand for constructing telecommunication towers.
However, until the operator closes down its operation, its so
important to do the maintainace of the tower, so that will be an ongoing
business for us. Sierra embarked on telecommunication tower maintainace
seeing the opportunities we are having as a business in this sector.
Q: Where do you spend holidays in Sri Lanka?
Nuwara Eliya
Q: What are your hobbies and interests?
Every Sunday I do swimming and I love travelling abroad.
In addition I always try to spend some quality time with my family.
Q: What sort of investment plan does your company have in mind in
Sri Lanka?
The company is considering to invest in telecommunication networks
particularly in infrastructure as part of it.
As I said earlier, having a single telecommunication tower where all
operators can share would be a serious investment the company is looking
forward to in the near future. This will bring immense benefits for
operators and it will have an environmental impact as well.
[Profile]
Full name- Arosha Fernando
Civil Status- Married, has three children
Sports- Swimming
Educational Qualifications - Dr. Arosha Fernando had his secondary
education at Ananda College and successfully completed A/L in 1990 in
the Commerce stream. During his time at Ananda College, he has fully
involved in extra curricular activities and was the founder President of
'Young Writer's Association' as well as held positions in number of
other student associations as an active member. He was the Chief Editor
of Vikasitha magazine which was published by Ananda College as its
official school magazine for encouraging students in the area of
creative writing.
Dr. Arosha has been awarded the degree of Doctorate in Business
Administration (DBA) by research by the Swinburne University of
Melbourne, Australia. This is Dr. Arosha's fifth University Degree where
he has already obtained his Bachelors of Business (double major in
Marketing and Human Resources Management) degree from Swinburne
University of Melbourne, Australia, and further three Masters Degrees
from RMIT University of Melbourne, Australia - Master of Business
Administration (MBA), Master of Project Management (MPM), and Master of
Engineering (major in Telecommunication Engineering).
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