India’s telecommunication network serving more than 1.2 billion telephone users is the second largest network across the globe. The estimated number of internet subscribers in the country is estimated to have crossed 450 million out of which 280 million are using broadband connections. While the telecom sector has always been very dynamic- it has become even more fast-paced in recent times.
Ardom Telecom is in the business of operation and management of telecom infrastructure. More simply put, it operates and maintains telecom networks viz: telecom tower sites & OFC. Ardom also works on construction of optical fiber network, installation and commissioning of base transceiver stations and radio frequency surveys and optimization. The company is focused on energy cost optimization on telecom tower sites through renewable energy usage and better monitoring of sites by using customized tools & an in-house developed software. They believe that innovations in the infrastructure management space and balanced regulatory support are sine-qua-non for the sustainability of the mobile telephony services. Notwithstanding the present turbulence in the industry, Ardom Telecom is quite optimistic about the overall sectoral growth and believes that the present subdued sentiments are a temporary aberration which is likely to be corrected in a span of 18 to 24 months.
Ardom: First Professionally Managed Company in the Field of Telecom Infrastructure
Ardom commenced operations in January, 2011. In February 2012, it received equity investment from L&T Private Equity. In the short span of five years, through organic as well inorganic growth- it has presence in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh, Assam, Meghalaya, Karnataka & Tamil Nadu. Because of sheer excellence in performance, Ardom has been a recipient of many coveted recognitions and awards, notably, top-rank in Deloitte Technology Fast 50 India 2013 and Second Rank in Deloitte Tech Fast 500 Asia 2013, Red Herring Top 100 Asia and Top 100 Global as one of the most promising privately managed businesses, listing amongst the top 100 Best Companies to work for in 2014 in a survey done jointly by “Great Place To Work Institute” and Economic Times. Ardom was declared as the best Indian Company for Professional & Business services in Mid Corporate Segment in the Dun & Bradstreet Annual SME Award 2015.
Ardom is the only O&M Company in India to have developed an in-house mobile application called “Ardom Mobile Workforce” to track and analyze real-time ground activities including diesel filling tasks performed by the field staff. Ardom also boasts of a futuristic remote monitoring center- particularly for its sites being managed through solar energy. Despite being a growing mid-size company, Ardom has taken adequate precautions to secure the data being handled by it and to eliminate the possibility of problems due to any cyber- attack.
Customised Energy Management Services by Ardom Telecom
Ardom supports its customers in maintaining requisite power uptime and energy cost optimization through better monitoring, appropriate technological intervention and software support for ensuring 24*7 network availability. Ardom’s core strength is identification and implementation of most suitable technology viz: Solar Energy, Lithium Batteries and other energy storage solutions after a proper study of various site-specific variables. In a largely unorganized industry segment of Telecom Infrastructure O&M, Ardom takes a lot of pride in its exceptionally high corporate governance norms and its stringent compliance framework.
“Customer delight” is one of the core Ardom Value which has helped it spread its wings in multiple geographies serving multiple customers offering almost all encompassing array of infrastructure and energy management services for telecom service providers and towercos.
Ardom Telecom Leadership Team
Mr. Ajit Shankar , the CEO & MD of Ardom Telecom Pvt Ltd is an alumnus of IIT-BHU, Varanasi, and IIM-Calcutta. He is a former “Indian Engineering Services” officer with a rich work-experience of 24 years in the Telecom industry. He has held senior positions under Dept. of Telecom ─ Govt. of India, BSNL, Nokia India, TowerVision, XCEL Telecom, ATC India & Viom Networks. He is a start-up specialist and has been instrumental in shaping the growth of Tower Vision & XCEL Telecom. His last assignment was as Sr. VP & Head- Marketing Strategy in Viom Networks.
Along with Ajit Shankar (CEO & MD), the pillars of Ardom Telecom are Mr. Ravdeep Singh (Director and COO), Mr. Pankaj Sharma (Director and CBDO) and Mr. Vipul Singh (Chairman, Holding Company). Ravdeep has been national O & M head of towercos like ATC India and TowerVision, while Pankaj has handled multiple key accounts in India and abroad while holding responsible positions in towercos. All these co-founders come with more than 35 years of experience in telecom infrastructure sector and more importantly with complementary skill-sets but coincident vision & values. Ardom employees are consistently encouraged to imbibe the five core Ardom values- integrity, growth with profitability, customer delight, knowledge & innovation; and fun.
Since inception, Ardom has exhibited an accelerated growth which has helped them gain a leadership position amongst the top players in their service domain. Ardom aims to leverage its expertise on optimization of energy costs on telecom tower sites to tap the emerging opportunities in fixed cost O&M of telecom tower sites. Ardom desires to have 3000 to 5000 sites on renewable energy. Their goal is to grow the Service Portfolio of the business of telecom infrastructure operations and maintenance to 51,000 telecom towers and 61,000 KM OFC in the coming years. Ardom also intends to explore the markets in Middle-east, Myanmar, and Africa very soon.
Ardom Telecom: A Pioneering ‘Powerco to Towerco’
