Sterlite Tech places Ayush Sharma and Rajesh Gangadhar to lead key departments

Global data network solutions company Sterlite Tech has on-boarded two industry technology leaders to strengthen its design, build and to manage smarter programmable networks.

Ayush Sharma joins Sterlite as Head of Programmable Networking and Intelligence to drive this strategic business initiative. Bringing more than 20 years of global industry leadership experience across technology, strategy, new business, engineering and service delivery, Sharma will drive new business growth by leveraging open innovation and customer-centric R&D. He is also Sterlite Tech's representative at the Telecommunications Standards Development Society of India (TSDSI) governing council, and a founding member of the open SDN movement.

Prior to joining Sterlite Tech, Sharma served as Senior VP of Engineering and Technology at Reliance Jio. Before that, he led global teams in standardizing and deploying new technologies at Huawei and Ericsson.

Sterlite has also appointed Rajesh Gangadhar as Head of Wireless Broadband Converged Platforms. Rajesh comes to Sterlite Tech with over 20 years of experience in the wireless industry, having held technical and strategic leadership roles in radio access technology transformation cycles across wireless technologies - GSM, CDMA, WiMAX, LTE, Carrier Class Wi-Fi, and now 5G.

Gangadhar will lead disruptive wireless technologies for last-mile connectivity as a new business initiative at Sterlite Tech, extending gigabit speed and capacity beyond fiber and convergence of wired and wireless technologies.

Rajesh joins Sterlite Tech after stints at Cable Labs, Charter Communications, Clearwire Corporation, Sprint, and Nextel Communications. He was an early member of the 3.5GHz CBRS initiative in the US, driving small cell requirements for shared spectrum, and has contributed to several spectrum policy decisions, including DSRC, lower 5GHz unlicensed operation at higher power outdoors.