ABS India has been associated with major metros and airport terminals in India, directly or indirectly for voice solutions. In an interaction with TelecomTiger, Sunil Arora CEO & Director, ABS India, talks about these projects, challenges and future plans. Excerpts from his interview:

Q. What are the challenges that the operators face as far as the system integration in transportation is concerned?

A. We see infrastructure development everywhere in India. Thanks to Government’s initiation and focus, infrastructure development is at its pinnacle. Connectivity is the key for development for any economy. Highways, Metros and Airport infrastructure growth is here to stay. We are witnessing tier 2 cities planning for metro railway systems & airports. We are even witnessing planning of a second airport in Metro cities for future air traffic. All these projects are complex network of technologies and solutions aimed at facilitating or performing a common function working behind the scene. To run these complex systems we need expertise in integrating technologies seamlessly with others. This is commonly known as System Integration. And it is a bigger challenge.

There are many challenges for a system integrator like ABS India.

1. Basic challenge is Domain Knowledge i.e. to know or understand how these networks work. Knowing the scope of your work and its contribution to the end objectives will be very critical.

2. Qualification – System Integrator needs to be qualified enough to bid for these projects.

3. Next will be the technology. It will be a big challenge to put the technology to the use in these kinds of environment. System Integrator will be put to the test with respect to use of technology, its limitations and ability to integrate with others in the same environment.

4. Next challenge will be the resources. Resources needs to be certified, trained and experienced enough to design, deploy and maintain these networks. There is no scope for experimenting in these kinds of projects.

5. As these projects will take years to execute, one needs to have the ability to sustain for long durations

6. Adhering to quality, documentation and standards of the specifications will be the key challenge as well.

7.  Last but not the least, constantly upgrade your resources which will be the key to remain in this vertical.

Q. How relevant is unified communication in the country like India with large network of highways and railways? 

A. Unified communication is a collaborative work environment tool which enhances productivity and help in reducing costs. UC has no major role in large network of highway and railway projects. A part of UC which is called presence can contribute to these networks from security perspective.


Q. Who are your clients In India?

A. ABS India has been part of many infrastructure projects in India, by contributing to voice and data areas. As these projects are large in nature, our contribution is limited to our domain of converged communication solutions. Our references in this segment include metros and airport terminals. We have been associated with major metros and airport terminals in India, directly or indirectly for voice solutions. Apart from these infrastructure projects we have prominent airlines using our services. We have been working with world known names in transportation verticals for voice telephony services.


Q. With security being the main concern particularly in metro railway system, how will you solution address that?

A. A metro railway system is a very complex project with many technologies integrated. Our role is limited to voice and data solutions. We do not address security part of a metro project. However as a system integrator have capability to integrate security solutions as well.


Q. What are your future plans in India?