The Invisible Backbone: How Optical Transport Networks are Powering India’s Digital Ambition 

Chandan Kumar, a veteran with over 30 years in the ICT sector, positions optical transport networks as the indispensable, invisible backbone powering India’s digital transformation, where he identifies three tectonic shifts—the rise of AI-driven autonomous networks to manage scalability and operational pressure, the fundamental convergence of telecom and cloud computing reshaping data traffic, and the expansion of fibre and 5G as the nervous system for Industry 4.0—all of which rely on advanced coherent optics to carry the immense workloads of AI, cloud traffic, and immersive experiences.

Motivated by a personal stake in building his country’s future and driven by a leadership philosophy of clear vision, team empowerment, and accountable innovation, Kumar’s mission is to ensure that the foundational networks he helps develop are future-ready, capable of silently supporting the next wave of digital applications for millions and securing India’s place in the global digital economy.

The Invisible Backbone: How Optical Transport Networks are Powering India’s Digital Ambition 

In the bustling, hyper-connected landscape of modern India, we celebrate the apps, the streaming services, the instant payments, and the cloud platforms that define our daily lives. We marvel at the speed of 5G and the promise of AI. Yet, beneath this digital cacophony lies a silent, unsung hero: the optical transport network. It is the vast, high-capacity circulatory system of the nation’s digital economy, and few understand its critical role better than Chandan Kumar, the Head of India Business Centre for Optical Transport at Nokia. 

With a career spanning over three decades—a period that mirrors the very evolution of India’s telecom sector—Kumar stands at the nexus of technology, business, and national transformation. His role isn’t just about selling equipment; it’s about architecting the foundational layer upon which India’s digital future will be built. His insights reveal not just the “what” of technological advancement, but the “how” and “why” it matters for a billion people. 

The Three Tectonic Shifts Reshaping Telecom 

According to Kumar, the industry is currently being reshaped by three powerful, interconnected forces. Understanding these is key to understanding where India is headed. 

1. The Rise of the Self-Healing Network: AI-Driven AutomationThe era of manual network management is rapidly closing. As networks grow in complexity and scale, human teams simply cannot monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize them in real-time. Kumar champions the shift towards AI-driven autonomous networks. “Imagine a network that can predict a fibre cut based on weather patterns and reroute traffic before it happens,” he explains. “Or a system that self-optimizes its capacity to handle a sudden surge in video conference traffic from a major metro, all without human intervention.”

This isn’t a distant sci-fi dream. It’s the practical solution to the “operational pressure” Kumar identifies, born from India’s unique combination of rapid subscriber growth and demand for extreme affordability. AI-driven automation is the key to maintaining reliability and quality of experience without exponentially increasing costs. 

2. The Great Convergence: When Telecom Met CloudThe once-distinct worlds of telecom and cloud computing are now inextricably fused. Hyperscalers like AWS, Google Cloud, and Microsoft Azure are major drivers of bandwidth demand, needing massive, low-latency interconnections between their data centres. Conversely, telecom operators are adopting cloud-native principles to make their own networks more agile and scalable.

“For us, this means the optical transport layer is no longer just connecting cities; it’s connecting cloud regions,” Kumar notes. “The traffic pattern has shifted. It’s less about point-to-point voice calls and more about the explosive, unpredictable flow of data between data centres, powering everything from your Netflix binge to a multinational corporation’s enterprise resource planning software.” 

3. Fibre and 5G: The Nervous System of Industry 4.0While consumers enjoy the wireless freedom of 5G, its true transformative potential lies in revolutionizing industries—a concept known as Industry 4.0. However, as Kumar is quick to clarify, “5G is only as strong as the fibre that backs it.” Every 5G tower needs a high-fibre connection to the core network. This fibre backbone is what will enable smart factories with real-time robotic control, remote surgery through haptic feedback, and seamless augmented reality for training and maintenance.

This expansion of fibre to power industrial applications represents a massive, nationwide infrastructure undertaking, positioning optical transport from a backend utility to a front-line enabler of economic productivity. 

Optical Transport: The Unseen Engine of the AI Revolution 

A common misconception is that AI exists solely in the cloud. In reality, AI is a network-intensive workload. Training a large language model requires moving petabytes of data between thousands of interconnected processors. Inferencing—the act of an AI model generating a response—requires lightning-fast communication between data centres and end-users. 

Kumar views optical transport as the “invisible backbone” for this new era. The latest coherent optics technology, like Nokia’s PSE-6s that he advocates for, are the workhorses here. They are like putting a supercharged engine inside a fibre optic cable, allowing a single strand of fibre to carry terabits of data per second over thousands of kilometres. “The AI revolution will not be possible without these advances in optical technology,” he states. “It is the fundamental plumbing that allows the AI brain to function across a distributed body.” 

The Leader’s Compass: Clarity, Empowerment, and a Touch of Technical Curiosity 

Beyond the technology, Kumar’s approach to leadership offers a blueprint for managing complex, high-stakes innovation. He focuses on a simple but powerful triad: clear goals, empowered teams, and a culture of accountability. 

“In a field as dynamic as this, a leader cannot be a bottleneck. My job is to set a clear vision—’here is where we need to go’—and then trust my team to figure out the best path to get there. Micromanagement stifles the innovation we desperately need,” he reflects. 

His strength lies in his deep domain expertise, which allows him to ask the right questions and build credible, strategic relationships at the CXO level. However, he displays a rare self-awareness when he admits to a personal challenge: “One area I continuously work on is balancing my technical curiosity with delegation. I am an engineer at heart, and I sometimes get deeply engaged in the fascinating details of a new technology when, strategically, stepping back could allow my teams to move faster and take ownership.” 

This honest reflection reveals a leader who is both a strategist and a lifelong learner, constantly evolving his style to meet the demands of his role. 

A Personal Stake in India’s Digital Future 

What truly humanizes Kumar’s mission is his personal connection to the work. He isn’t just building networks; he is participating in his nation’s defining transformation. “What motivates me is knowing that the networks we help build quietly power the cloud, AI, and broadband experiences for millions of people every day,” he shares. 

This connection is further embodied in his own family. His son, a telecom engineer, is part of the next generation building upon this foundation. His daughter, an aspiring doctor, represents the future beneficiary of this connectivity—a future where telemedicine and digital health records could become the norm, all powered by the robust networks her father helped create. For Kumar, the mission is both professional and profoundly personal. 

Conclusion: Building a Future-Ready India, One Fibre at a Time 

Chandan Kumar’s vision is clear: to ensure India’s networks are not just sufficient for today, but are “future-ready” for the next wave of digital applications we have yet to imagine. The journey is massive. It requires laying thousands of kilometres of fibre, deploying advanced coherent optics, and embedding AI into the very fabric of network operations. 

The story of India’s digital ascent is often told through the lens of startups and software. But as the insights from a veteran like Chandan Kumar reveal, this story rests on a more fundamental, physical layer of light and glass. The silent, relentless pulse of data through optical fibres is what will truly power the nation’s ambition, making it the indispensable, invisible backbone of a billion digital dreams.