Datacom Solutions CEO Ravi Sharma resigns

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Datacom Solutions, a joint venture (JV) between Dhoot-owned Videocon Group and industrialist Mahendra Nahata’s Jumbo Techno Services, Ravi Sharma has resigned citing personal reasons.

It may be pointed out that the JV partners were at loggerheads over investments in the company.

When contacted, Sharma said, “I am resigning on personal grounds, but I will continue to advise the company in my personal capacity. On my future plans, I cannot reveal anything at this point in time.”

An industry veteran, Sharma was roped in from telecom infrastructure service provider Alcatel-Lucent, where he was the managing director for India and the head of South Asia region. He joined Datacom at a time when new telecom service providers were finding it difficult to get top executives.

Datacom Managing Director R N Dhoot, brother of Videocon Chairman V N Dhoot, also confirmed the development and said that despite the resignation, the company would go ahead with its plans.

“We have already started rolling out our network in the country and, as announced earlier, we will launch the services by the end of this year, starting with the Tamil Nadu circle,” he said.

Datacom had also shortlisted four IT majors — International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Tech Mahindra and Wipro — for supplying solutions on a revenue-sharing basis. According to sources, the contract, which is spread over a seven-year period, is valued at around Rs 3,000 crore.

While the Dhoots hold 64 per cent, the remaining 36 per cent in Datacom is held by Nahata. Some time back, the Dhoots had offered to buy Nahata’s 36 per cent. However, Nahata had charged the Dhoots with violating shareholders’ agreement and ethics of corporate governance.