Lifetime Achievement Award: Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala

Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala was awarded the V&D Lifetime Achievement award by the eminent Jury at the 21st Voice & Data Telecom Leadership Forum (TLF) event. The 10-member Jury consisted of veterans in the Telecom industry and leaders in both Policies as well as business.

Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala’s lifelong contribution to Academia, industry, and research is unparalleled. He is a pioneer in every sense of the word. Over the last 45 years, he has been a force multiplier for technology R&D in India. He has helped create solutions for Bharat and transferred them to many other countries across the globe – most of them customised and tweaked for local conditions.

In the Telecom sector, Dr. Jhunjhunwala is most widely known for his outstanding work in leading the development of corDECT a wireless in local loop (WLL) technology platform through a partnership with Midas Communication Technologies.

corDECT solved one of the biggest problems of the 1990s – that of bringing VOICE & DATA to remote and rural regions on wireless networks and at affordable prices.

It was not only one of the lowest cost wireless systems in the late ‘90s, its switching exchange and Base Stations (located on towers) could work in hot and humid climates – at 55 degrees centigrade. CorDECT required less than 10% of power (compared to other systems at that time) and provided seamless integration of both voice and Internet. CorDECT is now deployed in many other parts of the world, including Argentina, Brazil, Tunisia, Madagascar, Kenya, Angola, Nigeria, Yemen, Fiji, and Iran.

It has been a long but fulfilling journey. Dr. JhunJhunwala completed his B.Tech in Electrical Engineering from IIT Kanpur and pursued his Ph.D. from the University of Maine in the US. He then returned to join IIT Madras in 1981 as a faculty and later went on to head its Department of Electrical Engineering.

It is at IITM that he really started some of his path-breaking research work. He was one of the very first movers to bring industry and academia together to create practical solutions for the country.

Following the great success of corDECT, Dr. Jhunjhunwala helped startup Banyan Networks which aimed to provide data over digital subscriber lines (DSL) on copper wires and suited for the uneven quality of copper in the Indian networks at that time. Optimising for practical local conditions on the ground was once again the key for Banyan Networks.

Dr. JhunJhunwala then helped set up a company called Tejas, which went on to break many new grounds in design and innovation. Tejas developed software-based converged networking solutions for Telecom Operators – it also developed hardware that aggregated and distributed bandwidth for Internet users and helped build Intelligent networks in the early and mid-2000s. Tejas was ahead of the curve in Indian telecom technology and built a presence over 100 countries.

Tejas is now part of the Tata Group and has become a beacon of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.

The Telecommunications and Computer Networks Group (TeNet) at IITMadras created under the stewardship of Dr. Jhunjhunwala leveraged these core strengths built over the years to develop technology and products suited for Indian conditions. Among some of the innovations of TeNet are:

• A low-cost ATM
• A remote medical Diagnostic Kit
• A low Bit Rate Video Conferencing Software
• A multi-language Office Suite
• And many others

Another brainchild of Dr. Jhunjhunwala was the Center for Excellence in Wireless Technology (CEWiT), a public-private platform. Its objective is to make India one of the global leaders in wireless technology and ensure that international standards bodies incorporate Indian requirements and solutions in specifications.

Dr. Jhunjhunwala chairs the Rural Technology and Business Incubator (RTBI) at IITM. It is a technology incubator focused on initiatives for rural markets. He holds numerous patents in wireless and broadband communications. He was a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee to the Prime Minister (SAC-PM) in 2005. Dr. Jhunjhunwala has conferred the Padma Shri Award in 2002.

feedbackvnd@cybermedia.co.in