S.K. Bangur Group has a widely known presence in the Indian and global market. The group’s West Coast Paper Mills Limited, through its Cable division “ West Coast Optilinks” (formerly known as Sudarshan Telecom) is active in the telecom market. It has an optical fibre cables manufacturing facility at Mysore, Karnataka. In a conversation with Wire & Cable India, Mr. Pramod Srivastava, CEO of West Coast Optilinks, sheds light on the workings of the company. One among which is the ongoing construction of a manufacturing plant in Rangareddy, Hyderabad, the second plant of the company after Mysore.
Wire & Cable India: West Coast Optilinks (WCO) is all set to have a new facility in Hyderabad. Cast some light on your upcoming facility’s infrastructure, production capacity, and technology.
PS: It is a greenfield project to set up a high-speed optical fibre draw towers in Rangareddy, Hyderabad, Telangana. It is going to be a state-of-the-art facility for manufacturing optical fibre and optical fibre cable, both of which are among the high-performance product lines of WCO, with the latest technology and world-class machines. It will also assist our existing manufacturing unit at Mysore, Karnataka with seamless supply of optical fibres. The new facility will also be similarly equipped with sophisticated equipments and manned by highly skilled and experienced engineers and technicians.
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WCI: Tell us about the recent product development and their USPs and the R&D that the company has been undertaking at WCO.
PS: In order to cater to the evolving need for a cost-effective network with faster deployment, WCO has enhanced its product portfolio by developing several products for various applications in the telecom network as well as utilities. Our product development team at the Mysore plant is closely working with our Indian as well as overseas customers to provide them with customized product solutions as per their application requirements.
WCI: WCO has reportedly entered into an agreement for the supply of cables with large Indian Telcos and a large network integrator for TANFINET. Tell us more about the project.
PS: WCO is one of the major suppliers of optical fibre cables for this prestigious project TANFINET for Tamil Nadu state. The project is operational on a huge scale to provide connectivity and internet to all the Gram Panchayats and villages of Tamil Nadu. This project is a part of BharatNet, a project launched by the Government of India to undertake all the remotest villages and regions of India within its connectivity loop. Furthermore, we are also working on other prestigious projects in the Digital India space led by major investment from Government entities and bagged a large order from BSNL which is under execution.
WCI: What kind of investment is India expecting in the optical fibre cable network infrastructure in the coming years? Where do you place yourself in this growth story of optical fibre networks?
PS: We are expecting a huge investment in the infrastructure built in the country in the coming years. Apart from the investment by major telecom operators in building optical fibre networks, we see demand coming from various utilities and other infrastructure projects. Many telecom operators are looking forward to setting up infrastructure for wide-scale connectivity and 5G network launches and applications are planned for all tiers of Indian cities. We are well-placed to be a part of most of these potential opportunities in the country.
WCI: What are your plans with regard to meeting the impending 5G demand in the coming years?
PS: Looking into the recent rollout of 5G in India and investment led by state-owned BSNL, we are expecting a major surge in the demand for optical fibre in India. Our capacity expansion of optical fibre cable in the new site at Hyderabad along with backward integration with the optical fibre plant, we are fully geared up to maximize our business from these opportunities.
We have already diversified our product line for optical fibre cables to ensure that different customer requirements could be met. This is primarily led by application based development keeping in mind various filed challenges during deployment.
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WCI: What is the current market footprint of your company? What can we hope to see from the company in the future ahead?
PS: While we have a very strong footprint in the Indian market, we are consolidating our position in the global market as well. We have exported our optical fibre cable to over 25 countries and are working to enhance our penetration with existing customers as well as adding new customers & markets. Our telecom cables are designed to deliver maximum performance and reliability, meeting international standards for safety and quality. We strive to provide the highest quality of telecom products, ensuring that our customers receive the best value for their money. Optical fibre cable is a critical component to making cities smarter globally and WCO is committed to providing high-quality telecom products to global organizations to make that happen.
