RS Sharma is the Voice&Data Telecom Person of the Year

India’s leading telecom magazine Voice&Data on Friday named Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) Chairman Ram Sewak Sharma as the Telecom Person of the Year for 2019.

The award was conferred for the leadership and visionary role played by him during the extremely challenging time in the Indian telecom sector, a Voice&Data press release stated.

“His role as the regulator of the country’s telecom sector, and the balancing act in protecting both industry and consumer interest will go long way in synchronizing the aspirations, ambitions and capabilities of the industry and the citizens of this country,” the Telecom Person of the Year citation stated.

This is the 17th edition of the annual award instituted by Voice&Data in 2003 to recognize the leaders of the telecom industry in India, path breaking initiatives, innovations and technology breakthrough in the industry.

Voice&Data also named STL Group CEO Dr. Anand Agarwal for the Pathbreaker of the Year Award, while Softbank India Country Head Manoj Kohli was conferred the Lifetime Achievement Award for 2019.

The decision was taken by a jury of eminent telecom professionals and experts headed by former Department of Telecom (DOT) Secretary Aruna Sundararajan who was conferred the award in 2018.

Bharti Enterprises Vice-Chairman and Bharti Infratel Executive Chairman Akhil Gupta served as the Jury Co-chair, the jury members includedCyberMedia CMD Pradeep Gupta; COAI Director General Rajan Mathews; CISCO Service Providers Business and Managing Director Anand Bhaskar; and Foxconn International Holding India Country Head & MD Josh Foulger.

The other jury members included Sterlite Technologies CEO for Network Service Business KS Rao; ICEA Chairman Pankaj Mohindroo; COAI Director General Rajan Mathews, Former TSSC CEO Lt. Gen Dr. S P Kochhar; and Huawei CEO Jay Chen.

Past winners of the Person of the Year award include Ratan Tata in 2003, Mukesh Ambani in 2004, Dayanidhi Maran in 2005, Sunil Bharti Mittal in 2006, Anil Ambani in 2007; N Srinath in 2008; Manoj Kohliin 2009; Anil Sardana in 2010. Other recipients of the award include Sanjeev Aga in 2011; Sanjay Kapoor in 2012; Marten Pieters in 2013; Himanshu Kapaniain 2014; Dr Rahul Khullar in 2015; Gopal Vittal in 2016; Mukesh Ambani in 2017; and Aruna Sundararajan (2018).

The awards were presented at the 25th Anniversary Celebration of Voice&Data and the 19th Telecom Leadership forum in New Delhi.