Dr Jhunjhunwala jet sets across the world, presenting papers and evangelizing on technology. We caught up with him at IIT Madras, just after he returned from Geneva. Shrugging off his jet lag, he spoke to Dataquest about his mission and vision in life:

On the evolution of TeNET
We started working in the late 1980s. One of the missing links that was hampering indigenous technology development was the lack of institute-industry interactions. It became clear in a while that to foster technology we needed do develop linkages with the industry. We also needed a disruptive technology positively impacting millions of people. Telecommunication was our obvious choice. So we took an in-depth look at the state of affairs, and concluded that the major deterrent towards adoption of telephones in the rural areas was the capital expenditure that the service provider had to shell out in setting up a new line. The cost for deploying a new line was as high as Rs 40,000. We started off with an aim of bringing down the cost factor down by three times so that the cost per line would be around Rs 10,000.

On the challenges faced
For us at TeNet, each step has been a challenge, and a learning experience. When we said that we were going to bring the cost per line to Rs 10,000, some laughed and mocked at us. Moreover, we had very little experience in product designing. And our chosen area, telecom, had so many government regulatory bodies that enforced so many policies at varying points in time, thereby imposing severe limitations on our research activities at times. Probably one of the biggest challenges rested in commercializing the corDECT technology. When we went to DoT and demonstrated our technology, they were skeptical. In time, we have effectively overcome the skepticism and the suspicion.

How it started
We at TeNET had a vision, but to make it happen we needed people. We sat together and made a list consisting of nine former IITians. When we invited and told them to launch Midas Communications, all nine of them who had secure jobs, quit and accepted our offer. In fact, they took a salary cut. It was indeed one my best moments in life to see my students reposing such confidence and becoming part of my dream.

On the oversights
When we started Midas, we thought we had everything in place. But we realized in time that technology was not everything. We learned the hard way that part of success also lay in management, organizational leadership, and marketing.

His philosophy in life
Dream, think big and accept mistakes. We do more mistakes in life than do things right. At TeNet, we did a lot of mistakes, but we accepted them and corrected them too. This made us grow and see things in the right perspective. I often tell people that without struggles and challenges, life is not worthwhile. Life is a struggle, and if you struggle for a cause, it is no longer a struggle.

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