The Indian Telecommunication Service Officer of 1987 Batch and Secretary of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), V. Raghunandan, is set to retire. Announcing his retirement, effective from 31st May, he said, “It has been a three-year fruitful journey in TRAI marked by several important milestones. All possible by collaborative working with industry colleagues and team TRAI which I enjoyed most.”
Raghunandan was appointed as the Secretary in 2021. Before his appointment, Sunil Kumar Gupta was given an extension as TRAI Secretary in March for two months till May 31, 2021.
Prior to his role as the Secretary of TRAI, Raghunandan was assigned as a Deputy Director General at the Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
In his farewell message, he added, “I was overwhelmed by several messages and personal wishes from Industry friends and colleagues and staff and officers from TRAI. Will be joining DoT today for a few days before my retirement by 31st May 2024.”
With vast experience of over 28 years in various capacities in the field of telecommunications, he was responsible for major telecom project executions, telecom policy implementation, and telecom enforcement in various parts of India. He was bestowed with the ‘Visishta Sanchar Seva Padak’ Award in DoT for meritorious services rendered in various remote rural areas for telecom development.
Earlier, as DDG (International Relations) at DoT (Hq), he coordinated all activities related to multilateral and bilateral of high-level dignitaries in DoT, Ministry of Communications, Govt of India and was responsible for key initiatives related to the establishment of ITU Area office & Innovation Centre in India. He also played a key role in effectively presenting India’s position on Cyber security related matters to ITU—resulting in India reaching the Top 10 Rankings in the Global Cyber Security Index in 2020.
Additionally, he organised many international and regional events in India and abroad. He has represented India as Speaker at ITU, BRICS, Commonwealth Telecom Organization (CTO), APT and other Multilateral organizations/International Forums.
In 2006-2007, he graduated MPA from Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, NUS Singapore. Raghunandan obtained M.Tech from S.V.University, Tirupati, India.