Interview with @TelecomCircle Founder & Editor Mohit Agrawal

By @Rose_at_O, @Olivia_at_O

 

Mohit Agrawal is Founder and Editor of Telecom Circle, a popular telecoms industry blog and an open networking organisation for communications, media and advertising industry professionals. It fosters cooperation and business development through virtual and live networking events to share ideas, best practices and trends.

Mohit is a telecom professional with rich experience of over 15 years. His expertise is in the area of strategy and planning, and his work experience includes stints with two Big 5 consulting organisations, a telecom operator and a handset vendor. He is an alumnus of London Business School, IMT-Ghaziabad and IIT-BHU, Varanasi.

Q.  Tell us a bit about yourself: 

I am a daydreamer. I love to see the big picture, and probably for that reason I am strategist with a large mobile handset company. I also like to share my learning and experiences, and hence have been blogging for the last three years. When I am not working, I like to run around with my five-year-old kid, who is a bundle of joy and energy.

Q. Tell us a little bit about your blog and its interest in mobile technology

My blog is Telecom Circle, and it focuses on the mobile and internet space. I write few articles, but write them after a lot of industry research. The blog is followed by readers who are interested in industry data and trends. I have been blogging for three years, and I got interested in blogging as a hobby soon after an executive development programme at London Business School.  The blog has attracted a decent following with over 20,000 visits per month, and it has managed to generate a small profit as well (thanks to advertising).

Q. What’s hot in mobiles and telecoms this year?

This year the key trend is likely to be the multi-screen focus by different ecosystem players. Microsoft is focusing on mobile, tablets and PC with its Windows 8 platform, Apple has interest in smart TVs, and players like Facebook and Amazon are likely to come from the content side to focus on tablets and mobile hardware.

Q. How many events do you attend each year? 

Depends on how much money I have. On a serious note, I try to catch up on events as and when I can, and I tend to focus on smaller events which do not get much media coverage. Events like Mobile World Congress are so well covered by media that even if you skip them, you can get all the information.

Q. Which one are you most looking forward to?

This year I am looking forward to Mobile Asia Congress.

Q. What types of stories or companies are likely to attract your attention this year? 

I am looking forward to success stories in social commerce.

Q. How many interviews do you do per week? 

I normally do not do interviews, as they can result in a conflict of interest with my current company.

Q. What’s the best way to pitch a story to you? Email? Phone? Twitter? By mail?

Reach me in any way you feel appropriate. My email is mohitagra@gmail.com, Mobile Number is +91-9810203306 and Twitter handle is @telecomcircle. I live in New Delhi and am open to meeting people if anybody happens to be in this part of the world.

Q. Who is worth listening to (about mobiles and telecoms)? 

Pete Cashmore from Mashable, Horace Dediu from Asymco, Walt Mossberg from The Wall Street Journal and Ben Wood from CCS Insights.

Q. What’s your favourite blog?

Certainly Mashable and All Things Digital, and these blogs focus more on analysis than on the news.

Q. What is your favourite piece of technology?

It is not really technology but a concept – mobile applications. With the advent of mobile applications, the ecosystem has changed, and the individual entities like device vendors, platform owners and software vendors need to collaborate much more.

Q. What do you think is the most important development in mobiles and telecoms to date? 

Context (location and social) is one of the most important developments in mobile and telecoms that has the potential to change the way we use mobile phones (including tablets) in the coming years. We are already seeing initial services like augmented reality and social commerce taking advantage of context, but believe me, this is just the tip of the iceberg.

Q. What is the best piece of advice for companies pitching stories?

Show me the path to profitability. A working proof of concept will make you stand out.

Q. What’s your favourite restaurant?

I am a vegetarian so my choices are more likely to be in India. I like Bukhara restaurant in Maurya’s in New Delhi. Outside of India, I survive on Subways.

Q. Are you a social media lover?

I am always logged into Facebook chat, Linkedin and Twitter (thanks to Windows Phone). I am a heavy user of Twitter, and I can be followed @telecomcircle. I restrict Facebook to my personal friends and LinkedIn to professionals, and generally I do not like to mix the two.

Q. Tell us something no one knows about you.

That’s a tough one, and I have hated this question in all the interviews that I have done to date. I love to travel and meet people from different nationalities and cultures.

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