Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) on Friday said it has appointed SP Kochhar as its new Director General (DG), after Rajan Mathews quitting the position, after a decade of service.

Mathews served as the DG since 2010 and now is going back to the US (New Jersey) where his family lives.

Coincidentally, the announcement came after a day of COAI's annual general body meeting for the financial year 2019-20, with the announcement of its leadership for the term 2020-21.

Ajai Puri, Chief Operating Officer (India and South Asia), Bharti Airtel, will now hold the position of Chairman while Pramod Kumar Mittal, President, Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, will be the Vice Chairman of the Association.

This is the first time Reliance Jio has got a leadership position in the industry body.

When contacted Mathews, he told BusinessLine, "I had a very fulfilling 10 years at COAI, and it was time to hand over to some one else to take this forward."

He has been advocating for favourable policies in the telecom sector throughout and had to face some controversies including some odds with the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) and Department of Telecommunications.

COAI in a statement said, "The members of COAI thank Rajan for his immense contribution to the telecom sector in India and the Association during his tenure, and wish him the very best for his future endeavours."

Kochhar, a decorated military veteran, retired as Signal Officer in Chief, the head of the ICT wing of the Indian Army, where he was responsible for planning, executing and operating all Telecom and IT networks of the Army.

Prior to that he was Additional Director General Personnel of the Indian Army, handling HR and Empowerment of the 11-lakh strong Army. He was till recently the CEO of Telecom Sector Skill Council of India.

 

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