Fibreization will pave way for widespread rural broadband

A believer in innovation and customer-first approach, he has been focussing on developing next-gen solutions to address the evolving network and communication opportunities. He has also played a crucial role in establishing STL’s presence in over 100 countries, executing joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions and greenfield projects across Brazil, China and Italy. STL’s Connectivity Solutions CEO Ankit Agarwal in an interview with Anusha Ashwin talks about the trends, the company’s longterm vision, 5G and make in India. Excerpts:

- Anusha Ashwin

Ankit Agarwal

CEO, Connectivity Solutions, STL

What is your long-term vision for a connected world?

Imagine a scenario: a farmer in a remote village in India is happy after selling his yield on an online marketplace at great profits. He then takes out his 5G-enabled smartphone and calls his son in the United States who is studying at the University of Michigan. After a hearty conversation with his son, the farmer fires up his laptop and starts taking his classes on artificial intelligence in farming.

This world may be too futuristic for most of the people. Not for us. STL envisions a world where technology benefits people irrespective of their backgrounds and geographies – a world free of urban-rural digital divide where people can leverage technology to access the best education, learning, health, and entertainment.

This connected world is ideally created on the foundation of a strong digital infrastructure powered by next-gen network technologies. These modern network technologies are nimble and enable the network to dynamically transform to adapt to needs of the end-users. We aim to provide these end-to-end network technologies, enabling global companies and enterprises to provide next-generation connected experiences. Apart from bringing people together, these technologies will also drive India’s network readiness to the top 10 nations of the world and position the country to leverage the next phase of technology revolution.

From a telecom infrastructure point of view, with specific reference to optical fibres, how will you describe the decade that has gone by and the decade ahead?