Three landmark conferences were recently held at Dubai – Radio Assembly-2023, WRC-23, and CPM-27-1, collectively spanned over a month of productive discussions and decisions shaping the future of global communication. IAFI is capitalizing the momentum by hosting a National Conference on Learning from WRC-23 in Bangalore on February 22nd, 2024.
The upcoming conference will prove a pivotal moment to consolidate the achievements, learnings, and crucial decisions taken in shaping the future of global telecommunications, landmark updates to the Radio Regulations, including new spectrum allocations for IMT, ongoing studies for further expansion, and robust regulatory measures for NGSOs and ESSS. Critical role of space-weather stations, enhanced safety across air, sea, and land communication systems, introduction of HIBS technology, innovative satellite services promises to bridge the digital divide, maritime and aeronautical communications, GMDSS and many more issues may like to discuss in the conference.
The conference may also discuss our anticipated participation and contributions to the upcoming 32nd Meeting of the APT Wireless Group (AWG-32), scheduled for March 4-8, 2024, in Pattaya, Thailand, recognizing AWG-32 as a critical platform for translating the key decisions of WRC-23 into concrete regulatory and spectrum management guidelines. Additionally, conference may explore potential issues related to FSS, BSS, and MSS, anticipating those that might arise in the upcoming WP-4B meeting.
Marta is an accomplished Spectrum Expert at Eutelsat Group, with a specialized focus on NGSO spectrum policy, licensing, and coordination. She has demonstrated a strong commitment to enhancing the company's global footprint, particularly through her efforts in cultivating relationships within the Americas, Africa and recently APAC Regions, advancing Eutelsat Group's worldwide outreach for WRC and spectrum regulation.
Marta has an academic background in Telecommunications and Space engineering from Polytechnic University of Madrid. Her native language is Spanish, and she also speaks English fluently.
Shri Munesh Kumar holds Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) in Electronics and Communication Engg from Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (GBPUA&T), Pant Nagar, Nainital. He joined IRRS service in the year 1994 as a Group “A” officer (IES-1992-batch) in the WPC Wing of Department of Telecommunications. Presently, Shri Munesh Kumar is working as Joint Wireless Adviser in Wireless Planning and Coordination Wing and is posted at Regional Licensing Office (West), Mumbai. He has more than 29 years of experience in the field of Spectrum Management and Spectrum Monitoring. During his service, he has resolved interference issues ranging from terrestrial stations,aeromobile stations to Satellites. He has worked in different sections of WPC Wing in spectrum planning of PMRTS, CDMA and GSM Networks and examination wing of WPC Wing responsible for RT licences of Aeromobile and Maritime sectors.
Shri Munesh Kumar has a fair understanding of radio spectrum Management/Monitoring/Regulations.
He has recently participated at Radiocommunication Assembly (RA) Meeting,WRC at Dubai as Delegation head in which India’s 6G vision achieved big at RA23. Indian delegation in RA2023,WRC 23, Dubai achieved success in approval of ITU Radiocomms resolutions on IMT-2030 framework leading to 6G era in India.
Shri Munesh Kumar is experienced officer in the telecomm sector and well known for his contribution in regulatory,licensing and spectrum management work.
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Dr. Neeraj Mittal is the chairman DCC and Secretary Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, Government of India. He is an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer belonging to the 1992 Tamil Nadu cadre. He has served as Principal Secretary of Information Technology, Government of Tamil Nadu. He also served as the Managing Director & CEO of Guidance Tamil Nadu.
Dr. Neeraj Mittal is an electrical engineering graduate from IIT Kanpur, holds an MBA degree from Cranfield University, UK and PhD in Economics/MIS from Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University, USA. He has several publications to his credit. During his IAS career, Dr. Mittal has served in various key capacities for both the Government of India and the Government of Tamil Nadu. He has extensive experience in policy formulation and execution in e-Governance, Transport, Industrial promotion, Petroleum & Natural gas, Commerce & Industry, and Telecommunications and IT. He had served in senior positions such as Director of Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Director of Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Commissioner of Tamil Nadu e-Governance Agency.
Mittal served as a Senior Advisor to Executive Director of World Bank Group. He represented countries like India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Bhutan at the board of the World Bank. He was an active part of corporate governance, voice reform, project approvals and policy formulation of IBRD, IDA, IFC, and MIGA Mittal took initiatives and his recent engagements include Project Arrow in Department of Post, e-Biz project in Department of Commerce, world’s largest Cash Transfer Program in LPG in India (PaHaL) and GiveItUp in Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas which leverage technology to simplify processes, improve efficiency, convenience, participation and transparency in Governance. One of his initiatives, Project Lakshya, a transparency portal that allowed real time visibility of 3 million LPG deliveries per day to LPG consumers, received National E-Governance Award.
Biz Buddy is such an initiative realized by Mittal. It is an industry help desk portal with three primary objectives: Streamlined redressal mechanism for timely resolution of industrial investor’s unsolved issues, Tracking and monitoring of investor issues in a real time manner and Improving Tamil Nadu's investment climate by enhancing the aftercare services provided to industrial investors.
Mr. Prakash R holds the designation of “Technical Expert” in Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT). He has been working as a researcher in the telecom industry for the past 29 years. His current interests include Software-intensive Telecom Systems, Wireless Networks (4G/5G/6G), Data Networks, Cloud Computing, Software Defined Networks, Open Source and Standardization. Mr. Prakash completed his B.Tech at R.V.College of Engineering, Bangalore in 1993. He has been working in C-DOT since 1994 in various roles as a Research Engineer, Team Leader, Senior Program Manager, Business Unit Head/Division manager and is currently holding an Executive position. He has worked on various aspects of telecommunications including Digital Switching Systems, Voice-over-IP, Internet Telephony, Fault-tolerant Systems, Software-intensive Telecom systems, Organizational Processes (CMMI), Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), Organizational Change Management and creating Marketing department in C-DOT. He is currently the coordinator for the following programs: 4G/LTE Radio Access Network, 5G and ERP Implementation at C-DOT. He is also responsible for C-DOT Academic Research Engagement (CARE) Program and other R D collaborations. He is a member of the technology roadmap and strategic planning group in C-DOT. He is an IEEE Senior Member, IETE Fellow and ACM Member and also serves as Chair in the Study Group Networks of TSDSI.
Dr. Vinosh Babu James leads the technical standards engagement for Qualcomm in India. He engages Indian & regional stakeholders on matters related to radio standardization, harmonization and regulation. Vinosh joined Qualcomm in 2011, and has served in several roles spanning engineering and standardization. He has a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from the IIT Madras, with specialization in wireless communication. He has held several technical roles, including serving as the Chairman of the 5G working group in TSDSI. He is also a senior member of the IEEE.
Prior to joining Access Partnership, Renuka Rajaratnam worked on national economic development, digital transformation and policy thought leadership projects at the Boston Consulting Group and The Economist Intelligence Unit. There she supported and led engagements for Asian governments, corporations, and multilateral organisations. Ms Rajaratnam has also worked in the Singapore government’s trade promotion arm, Enterprise Singapore, providing market intelligence and analysis on key trade trends. During her career, she has represented Singapore at an ASEAN secretariat meeting and has spoken at regional conferences on establishing National CERTs, the growth outlook for Asia and the ASEAN Economic Community.
Ms Rajaratnam holds a MSc in Financial Economics from Cardiff University and an honours degree in Economics from Nanyang Technological University.
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Shri Hanumantha Rayappa, a senior scientist in ISRO. He currently is working as Director, SATCOM Programme Office at ISRO HQ, Bengaluru. He is dealing with frequency management, satcom applications, ground segment, capacity management and satcom planning. His contribution is significant in the planning & realization of Gateways for High Throughput Satellites. He has been a key player in rollout and operations of SatCom networks for societal applications, like Telemedicine, Tele-education, VAST connectivity, Disaster Management, Search & Rescue, etc, which have a greater social relevance. He has contributed for proliferation of NavIC and GAGAN solutions into various applications. He has played an important role in formulating the new policy and guidelines in the Satcom area.
He is a recipient of two Team Excellence Awards of ISRO and IETE – R S Khandpur Gold Medal for tele- education & tele-medicine applications.
Jishnu is a Principal Architect in CTO’s office at Tejas Networks. He is driving the company’s long term technology roadmap. He is actively engaged in contributing to development of standards at the ITU-T SG15, ITU-R WP-5D and 3GPP RAN1/SA2, and successfully coordinated TSDSI efforts for inclusion of TSDSI’s 5Gi in IMT2020 at ITU. Earlier, Jishnu steered development of the CPRI Fronthaul standard at TSDSI. He has filed for 16 patents and is currently focussing on 5G-Adv evolution, IIoT and network slicing.
J Sofi, a scientist in ISRO is currently working as Deputy Director for Frequency Management area in, SATCOM Programme Office at ISRO HQ, Bengaluru. She is responsible for frequency management activities which involves ITU filings and frequency coordination for all ISRO missions, Communication satellites, remote sensing satellites ,space science and inter planetary missions and is involved in satellite planning activities. She has contributed towards preparation of inputs to Working Party and WRC’s towards augmentation of orbit-spectrum resources for ISRO missions. Her contribution has been significant in obtaining the extension of validity period of satellite networks during previous WRC, WRC-19.
Mr. Meghwal is Bachelor of Engineering (BE) in Electronics and Communications in 1996 with 66% marks from M. B. M. Engineering College, Jai Narayan Vyas, University, Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
Master of Engineering (ME) in Digital Communications in 1998 with 70% marks (Thesis Pending) from M. B. M. Engineering College, Jai Narayan Vyas, University, Jodhpur, Rajasthan.
Heading SACFA division in WPC Wing which is a Standing Advisory Committee on Frequency Allocation to different commercial and non-commercial usages.
Heading ASMS division in WPC Wing having automated spectrum management system (ASMS) and technical analysis involved in efficient spectrum management. ASMS also maintains National Frequency Register (NFR) for all frequency assignments in terrestrial geography.
Year Sept., 2015 – April, 2020
Position held: Deputy Wireless Adviser to the Govt. of India, WPC Wing, Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications.
Year November 2011 – Sept, 2015
Position held: Engineer-in-Charge/Assistant Wireless Adviser to the Govt. of India, WPC Wing, Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications.
July, 1999 – November, 2011
Position held: Engineer, WPC Wing, Department of Telecommunications, Ministry of Communications, Government of India.
November, 1998 – July, 1999
Position held: Inspector(Wireless), Rajasthan Police Government of Rajasthan.
Participated in International level meetings/ Trainings/ seminars/ Conferences.
Amit Gulati is a Bachelor of Engineering in Electronics from the North Maharashtra University and Masters in Business Administration from Faculty of Management Studies. He is an officer from the Indian Radio Regulatory Service and has over 22 years of experience in spectrum management in various domains including Spectrum monitoring. He is currently the Senior Deputy Wireless Advisor in the Satellite Division of the Wireless Planning and Coordination Wing in the Department of Telecommunications, looking after key issues such as policy issues relating to frequency assignment of existing and new satellite networks, and Satellite Network Filing.
Rahul Vatts is Chief Regulatory Officer (India & South Asia), Bharti Airtel & Director – OneWeb Communications India and Vice Chairman of Indian Space Association (ISpA). He is also Board Director in Indo Teleports Limited & Mobipro, which runs India Mobile Congress.
A telecom & digital industry veteran with over 29 years of experience with leading corporations, Rahul is an expert on Telecom Licensing, Economic & Digital Regulations, Spectrum Management and Regulatory Litigation. He has actively shaped public policy discussion in emerging areas such as data privacy, Open Access, M2M & IoT and content self-regulation. He firmly believes that the aim of policy and regulatory environment should be delivering benefits to stakeholders across value chain viz. consumers, businesses and the Government.
Rahul’s domain expertise has been extensively used in global forums by OneWeb UK, Axiata in Malaysia, Indosat in Indonesia and Dialog in Sri Lanka.
Rahul did his Engineering in Telecommunications from University of Pune and is an alumnus of Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad and The Wharton School, Pennsylvania. He has been a member of the Executive Committee of the Cellular operators Association of India (COAI) for more than a decade and is also member of FSMA Global policy group and Spectrum Management group besides being a Governing Council member of various Telecom standardization bodies in India.
Sonali Nanda has completed B.E (ECE) from MDU, Rohtak and MBA (Finance & Systems) from VIT, Vellore.
In Nov. 2007, she joined Antrix Corporation Limited, the commercial arm of ISRO and has worked in the Satellite Telecommunication Services Business vertical. As Senior Manager SATCOM, she gained 15 years of expertise in managing INSAT/GSAT and Foreign leased transponders provision agreements with Commercial users, Market assessment, Business development, costing/pricing of satellite transponders, ISRO's special satellite and ground network projects – GSAT 7 and GSAT 7A for Indian Navy and Airforce, Marine Vessels AIS data, Legal petitions at Hon'ble TDSAT etc.
Currently, she is on deputation to IN-SPACe as Deputy Director in Program Management and Authorisation Directorate.
Mr. Bhola has a proven track record in the field of spectrum management and monitoring. With extensive experience of over 30 years in WPC and WMO in various capacities, he has played a key role in the department's spectrum management and monitoring aspects. Currently, as the head of RLO Chennai, he is involved in the issuance of ETA and licenses in various categories, including import experimental (radiating as well as non-radiating) to industry and academic institutions, specifically in 5G, Demonstration MMSL AMSL, etc. Additionally, he has formulated technical specifications for the Monitoring System up to 80 GHz to monitor signals in the full range of frequency bands, including 5G E and V band.
Shri Gulab Chand holds Bachelor of Engineering (BE) degree in Electronics & Communications from NIT, Durgapur, joined IRRS service, as a Group-A officer 1992-batch in the WPC wing of Department of Telecommunication. Presently, Shri Gulab Chand is working as a Joint Wireless Advisor in the WPC wing. He has more than 30 years of experience in spectrum management. Shri Gulab Chand has a fair understanding of the field of radio-spectrum management/regulations, as worked in the RF spectrum monitoring for 5 years. He participated in various ITU-R meetings held time to time on behalf of Indian Administration. He played a major role in various spectrum auctions in India since 2015.
Shri Gulab Chand is a highly experienced officer in the telecommunications sector and well known for his expertise in policy formulation, regulatory, licensing and spectrum auction work.
Shri Manish Sinha is a 1989 batch officer of Indian P&T Accounts and Finance Service. In the service, he has had vital experience in dealing with billing systems and the FMS software in MTNL and thereafter he had experience in Banking and Vigilance sections in BSNL. He has worked in Planning and Procurement Division of Department of Telecommunications followed by another stint in DoT as DDG License Finance. He has dealt with the entre gamut of licenses and spectrum during his stay in TRAI for two and half years. In addition, he has also worked for four and half years in the Department of Post dealing with all Postal services, banking, PLI etc. He has been innovative in his approach and managed to make many useful changes in the Department of Post as well as in Department of Telecommunications.
Shri Manish Sinha is an alumni of St. Stephens College at Delhi University wherein he completed his M.A. in History in 1989. Thereafter, he has done a PG Diploma in Financial Management from IGNOU followed by a MBA from University of Birmingham, United Kingdom. Recently in 2016, he also obtained a M. Phil degree from Punjab University as a part of the APPPA programme at IIPA. He was also a recipient of the Silver Medal in this programme. Subject of research for his M. Phil course was ‘Net Neutrality’.
At present, Mr. Manish Sinha has been appointed as Member Finance of Digital Communications Commission, Department of Telecommunications from 15 th July, 2022
Ms. Gunjan Dave completed her graduation and post-graduation from the prestigious IIT Roorkee. She further pursued an MBA from the esteemed Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies in Mumbai. In 1987, she joined the Indian Telecom Services and dedicated more than three decades of her career to MTNL Mumbai, serving in various capacities.
Throughout her tenure at MTNL, Ms. Gunjan Dave showcased her versatility by working across multiple units, including IT, Planning, Installation, Broadband, Mobile, and Call Center operations. She also held the position of Area In charge. Her contributions were instrumental in handling the planning of new exchanges, telecom traffic routing, and the establishment of computerised digital trunk exchanges in Mumbai, as well as the introduction of radio paging services during the early 90s.
With an extensive background in IT, Ms. Gunjan Dave successfully implemented numerous IT-enabled systems such as Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and Billing for Mobile, Network Management Systems (NMS) for exchanges, and Fraud Management Systems. She also played a pivotal role in software development for in- house usage, as well as the creation of customer-friendly applications. Notably, she was involved in significant projects, including the Mumbai Wi-Fi, IT security audits, including SOX audits, and the management of MTNL's data center.
From March 2022 to April 2023, Ms. Gunjan Dave served as the Senior DDG (Senior Deputy Director General) for Gujarat LSA (Licensed Service Area), overseeing Gujarat and the Union Territories of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. During her tenure, she led the successful launch of 5G services in Gujarat and implemented the CBUD app, along with other Government initiatives.
Continuing her upward trajectory, Ms. Gunjan Dave assumed the role of Member (Technology) at DCC (Digital Communications Commission), Ministry of Telecom starting from June 1st, 2023. In this prestigious position, she is responsible for initiating policy decisions, driving technological advancements and strategic decision-making in the telecommunications sector.
Kumar is the Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer of Tejas Networks. He has nearly three decades of experience in the field of telecommunications. He is a Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering. In 2000, he received the Swarnajayanti Fellowship from the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, which is awarded to outstanding young scientists to pursue basic research in frontier areas of science and technology.. Kumar has co-authored the bestselling book titled "Optical Networks: A Practical Perspective" which is currently in its third edition. He is also a recipient of the prestigious IEEE W.R.G. Baker Prize Paper Award in 1997 which is presented for the most outstanding paper reporting original work in the Transactions, Journals, and Magazines of the Societies or in the Proceedings of the IEEE. In November 2021, he was elevated to IEEE Fellow status for his extraordinary and continued contributions to the field of optical networking. He is a recipient of the ‘CTO of the Year’ award from ET Telecom in 2022.
Kumar was the first chairperson of the governing council of Telecommunications Standards Development Society, India (TSDSI) which is an organizational partner of 3GPP, the global standards body responsible for formulating 5G standards. Prior to joining Tejas, he was an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru and a research staff member at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center, Yorktown Heights, New York.
Kumar holds a B.Tech in Electrical Engineering (Electronics) from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Madras and an M.S and PhD from the California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, USA (Caltech). At Caltech he was selected for the IEEE Charles LeGeyt Fortescue Scholarship, an annual award given to only one first year graduate student of Electrical Engineering studying in the U.S.A. Kumar received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from IIT Madras in 2013.
Bashir Patel is Inmarsat’s Regional Advisor for the South Asia, Middle East and Africa (SAMEA) region. He is widely recognized as a highly experienced executive in ICT, satellite systems and defence aerospace. He has over 35 years experience in the high tech industry, working mainly in the telecom sector including satellites and defence industries, both in management consulting as well as in regional regulatory policy, business and market development. He has been working with the Governments throughout the regions and launched satellite communications technologies as far back as mid 1980’s. He is a passionate technologist with experience gained from his time spent in advance aerospace projects in BAe Systems, Inmarsat, ICO Global Communications and prior to re-joining Inmarsat in 2013 as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation (CTO), dealing with 54 Commonwealth Governments around the world.
Peng is heading the APAC Government Affairs team in OneWeb. He is an experienced telecom public policy executive, with focus on licensing and spectrum policy for both mobile and satellite industries, advising governments and telecom industry globally.Before joining OneWeb, Peng was responsible for the GSMA's global campaign ensuring optimal licensing conditions for mobile operators. He was leading a team of policy experts across Africa, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle-East to engage policy makers and regulators, and advocated for industry's best practices on telecom policy.He recently obtained an Executive MBA at London Business School. He has an engineering background, and hold an MS in Telecommunication Systems from Swiss Federal Institute of Technology of Lausanne. Besides English, he speaks French and Mandarin fluently.
Shri. Ritu Ranjan Mittar has taken over the charge of Director General (Telecom). He is an ITS officer of 1985 batch having experience of over 30 years of services in various capacities in Department of Telecommunications, Government of India. Before taking over the charge of Sr. DDG & Head TEC, he was DDG (Telecom Security) in TEC New Delhi He is a graduate in Electronics Engineering from Punjab Engineering College, Chandigarh in 1985. He also possesses Diploma in “PUBLIC POLICY SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT SDG GOALS" from TERI in 2018.
He is having very vast experience in the area of Standardization of Telecom Equipment’s & Networks including Next Generation Networks (NGN), Spectrum management & Radio regulations, Planning and Execution of telecom /ICT project, Telecom & Cyber Security, IPv6 Ready Logo, Telecom Regulations etc.
During his tenure in TEC New Delhi as DDG (Telecom Security), he was involved in the preparation of the framework of Security Testing in India which is the basis of formulation of Indian Telecom Security Assurance Requirements. He also involved in the formulation of standard related to Security Testing of Telecom Networks. He successfully implemented IPv6 Ready Logo Lab in TEC New Delhi which is the only sixth lab in the world to get this Accreditation.
During his posting in North East LSA, he also handled several enforcement functions related to TSP and ISP. He is actively involved and contributor in the INU-1 standardization activities and for his outstanding contributions, he has been appointed as Chairman of ITT-T Study Group-11 (Signalling requirements, protocols, test specifications and combating Counterfeit telecommunication ICT devices) at recently concluded WTSA20 Assembly session of ITU-T at Geneva in March 2022. He will remain as chairperson of ITU-T SG11 for the period of 2022-2024.
"Currently, he is working as a Senior Deputy Wireless Advisor in the WPC Wing. He coordinates on various radio-frequency spectrum issues with stakeholders to frame our country views for International bodies, such as ITU-R, APT etc. He has played an important role in formulating National Frequency Allocation Plan-2018. He was involved in drafting Indian contributions to WRC-19 and has also participated in WRC-19 He also worked in Wireless Monitoring Organization, DoT where he was involved in carrying out monitoring of radio-frequency spectrum.
Mr. Pawan Garg is former Wireless Adviser to the Government of India (head of national spectrum management organization) and was internationally elected Member* of the Radio Regulations Board (RRB) of International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Geneva from 2006 to 2014 (elected as Chairman of the Board for 2013). ITU is the specialized body of UN system for ICT issues.
This specialized ITU Board resolves various issues concerning implementation of ITU Radio Regulations, an international treaty, for planning and use of RF spectrum & satellites globally. Mr Garg has more than 45 years of experience in spectrum management and planning of various radiocommunication services – both terrestrial as well satellite based services. Also during his term as Wireless Adviser to Govt. of India (2002 – 2008), exponential growth of cellular mobile services took place in India and achieved the critical mass for further large growth.
Mr. Garg has widely traveled since 1980 and represented India on the Governing Council of ITU. He has chaired as well as spoken at large number of national and international conferences in his field and published many papers on related issues.
