Ascend Telecom leverages innovative technologies to optimise its 5,200 tower pan-Indian footprint

The Indian tower market is mature and diverse, with a variety of infrastructure providers meeting the needs of MNOs across the country’s expansive geography. Founded in 2002, Ascend Telecom has been offering coverage for 10,000 tenants, with 42% of them in growth circles. We recently spoke with Sushil Kumar Chaturvedi, CEO of Ascend Telecom to learn about his vision for the future of the Indian tower market.

TowerXchange: Please tell us about your company and your personal background in telecoms.

Ascend Telecom Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd. is an ISO 9001-2015 Company, incorporated in 2002, with an Infrastructure Provider (IP-I) registered with the Department of Telecommunications, Government of India.

During the financial year 2011-2012, Ascend acquired India Telecom Infra Ltd., a company engaged in a similar business which had a portfolio of around 2,500 telecom towers with 4,000 tenants.

Ascend is a professionally owned and managed company, and is backed by NSR (New Silk Route) which holds a majority share, and Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL&FS).

Having a pan-India presence with 5,200 towers and 10,000 tenants, with 42% concentrated in growth telecom circles, Ascend Telecom is a preferred business partner of all major telcos, and is recognised as the lowest cost operator with the fastest turn around delivery, offering operational excellence in diverse geographies. Ascend Telecom has been a pioneer in green energy deployment, providing  green energy solutions in over 50% of our  towers. Ascend Telecom operates from its corporate headquarters in Bangalore, and has a state-of-the-art NOC in Hyderabad and field offices in all of the state capitals.

Ascend Telecom is managed by a team of professionals with a combined total of 250+ years of industry experience in operating large defence, telecom, PSU, and private telecoms networks in India and abroad with an illustrious track record.

I took over the reins of Ascend in 2012. I have 34+ years of industry experience in key management and leadership positions, managing telecoms PSU and private telecoms enterprises across the globe. I was awarded the President’s medal for distinguished telecoms services in 2001, anad in 2008 I was recognised as “CEO of the Year” for the fastest growing company in Asia Pacific by Deloitte & Touche.

My other telecoms experience includes my role as Group CEO for managed telecom and satellite services at ORG Informatics, Vice President of GDSS Inc. where I pioneered and deployed triple play services across Africa and Southeast Asia. I was also responsible for the development of telecoms in Southern African Development Countries (SADC) at the ITU/TCIL, and was the Director of Indian telecoms services at BSNL.

TowerXchange: How is Ascend Telecom financed and how has this evolved over time?

Ascend is backed by marquee investors  New Silk Route (“NSR”), the majority shareholder and IL&FS, the minority shareholder.

NSR is a leading Indian subcontinent-focused growth capital firm founded in 2006 with more than US$1bn under management. NSR has a strong and experienced team of investment professionals, who utilise their domain expertise and leverage their broad network of relationships to create value and contribute substantially to the future growth and success of their portfolio companies.

TowerXchange: Does Ascend Telecom provide a full service inclusive of power? What are some of your strategies to lower opex?

Ascend is a turnkey passive infrastructure provider, and is recognised as the lowest-cost towerco . We have made extensive use of new technology to excel in operations.

TowerXchange: What is your appetite to deploy your own capex into energy efficiency programmes versus partner with ESCOs?

Ascend has consciously engaged in strategic green energy initiatives to address the pain point of the Industry and align with government/TRAI directives. These investments have paid dividends with a realised margin of 12-15%, and the gains from power and fuel have been increasing over the years. These initiatives include energy efficiency improvement programmes, analytics-driven energy assets, optimal performance, green initiatives and achieving a higher number of tenancies under fixed opex plans to provide for higher gains.

So far Ascend Telecom has internally funded its energy program and all deployments have been done by In-house teams. Armed with trained manpower and credible results, Ascend Telecom is planning energy management for other infrastructure providers and telcos on a capex-sharing basis.

TowerXchange: Is Ascend Telecom engaged in organic growth and/or looking for potential acquisitions?

Ascend has had a proven track record of M&A, and is pursuing a growth strategy of organic and inorganic growth, with accretive acquisitions, offering innovative solutions and creating avenues for value-added services.

TowerXchange: What is your procurement model and process – is it in-house? Who are the key stakeholders? How do you buy and what are your current priorities?

Ascend Telecom’s in-house procurement model is based on constant innovation, extensive analytics and operations feedback.

Technology and supply chain teams continuously strive to identify the most effective and cost-optimised solutions for their infrastructure, both on new builds as well as upgrading their current sites. Ascend Telecom recognises effectiveness of management through multiple suppliers and service contractors spread across all regions in order to ensure sustainability of supplies and services at all times.

Technology teams, the operations team, the supply chain management team, suppliers and service contractors and the quality assurance teams are key stakeholders.

The equipment includes fabricated towers which are SERC/IIT pre-approved, silent and super-silent diesel generator types which are certified by CICB and Pollution Control Boards. Other technology includes VRLA, tubular flooded and lithium-ion battery banks, prefab shelters, electrical equipment, air conditioners, safety equipment, wind chimneys, and solar PV systems selected from ISO certified suppliers, complying to national and international standards.

TowerXchange: Please outline your vision for the future of Ascend Telecom.

Focused on profitable build and successful M&A, we will continue to pursue our growth strategy with organic and inorganic expansion through accretive acquisitions.

Ascend Telecom is forging smart partnerships to provide an innovative bouquet of services to address small cells, in-building solutions, and smart poles with value-added services. Ascend Telecom will be a key player in the Smart City program and is supporting the Digital India initiative.

We will continue to provide cost-effective energy management through our green energy initiative.

We will strive to continue being the preferred business partner of telcos. With planned organic and inorganic growth, and expanded energy management, Ascend Telecom is in discussions with strategic investors.