Sandeep Raithatha: Tech Innovation at Virgin Media O2

Sandeep Raithatha has worked in the telco and tech industry for more than 20 years. Over his career, he’s performed a range of roles, from software development to product innovation. Sandeep has a passion for creating new innovative products and solutions to solve challenging real-world problems. Outside of work, he is a Father of two lovely kids who inspire him every day and he is an avid pizza maker.

Here Sandeep tells us more about his career, improving mobile connectivity and how IoT has evolved over his career.

What is Virgin Media O2 Business?   

“Virgin Media O2 Business was formed over three years ago in June 2021 as a 50:50 joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefónica. Bringing together two of the UK’s most iconic brands and combining 46m+ broadband, mobile, phone and home subscribers. We’ve come together to give the UK more choice and better value for customers, communities and businesses all over the country.”

Tell us about your role as Head of Strategy, Innovation & 5G IoT Products.   

“I lead the Private Networks team at Virgin Media O2 Business, which is a team of brilliant people who work together to develop strategy, launch and scale Private Networks products and solutions. Our aim is to help our customers get the connectivity that they need to power cutting-edge applications that will enable their businesses to thrive. Recently, the team delivered the UK’s first plug-and-play Private Network solution – an exciting step in making Private Networks easy to test and implement.”

Can you share some examples of the impact such technologies have on businesses?   

“We spend a lot of time getting to know businesses in a range of industries, from the health sector to stadiums, to learn how connectivity can improve the way their customers and staff operate. One of the organisations that we work with is British Sugar, the leading producer of sugar for the British and Irish food and beverage markets. British Sugar currently processes around eight million tonnes of sugar beet and up to 1.2m tonnes of sugar each year across four factory sites. Through working with them and getting to know their organisation’s needs, we switched on a first-of-its-kind Mobile Private Network, spanning multiple factory sites across the UK. The Private Network provides dedicated, secure connectivity for all of British Sugar’s manufacturing facilities, as part of a major ‘factories of the future’ upgrade. Using a purpose-built Mobile Private Network from Virgin Media O2 Business, British Sugar will be able to connect multiple IoT devices, including smart sensors and cameras, that will enable them to revolutionise production processes.”

You've worked at BT, O2 and now Virgin Media O2 Business. How has IoT evolved over your career?

“IoT has evolved considerably over the last 10-15 years, from what was conceptual and in the pilot stage - alongside the evolution of Machine-to-machine (M2M) to IoT nationwide connectivity. Now, with technologies like LTE-M and complete end-to-end industry solutions, this tech is able to drive true digital transformation across many sectors from transport and manufacturing to utilities.”

What skills have you honed since joining the company?

“Since joining O2 and now Virgin Media O2 in the Business and Wholesale division, I have spent more and more time with customers. The key skill that I have honed since joining is thinking about the customer first and helping define their problems. From there, my job is to help translate their needs into a technology solution, solving real problems rather than only being technology led.”

How can ORAN be used to improve connectivity experiences within high dense environments, including sporting events?

“By diversifying the supply chain with ORAN, it creates a platform to innovate and create new experiences for our customers. ORAN is also useful in high-density areas because it enables dynamic resource allocation, deployments of small cell deployments and distributed antennas which can help to enhance both capacity and coverage. These benefits are great for sporting events.” 

Do you have any partnerships you can tell us about?

“We just announced a new partnership with Accenture to help our customers accelerate their digital transformation journey. We will bring Virgin Media O2’s 5G Private Network capabilities and couple them with Accenture’s expertise in helping enterprises accelerate digital transformation. This means customers will have access to industry applications targeting a range of sectors, all underpinned by secure 5G connectivity. A few of the solution examples are using computer vision, a form of AI for product quality control, monitoring factory floor equipment for compliance and queue management systems to improve customer experiences. This is an exciting partnership that brings a wealth of experience and skills together to jointly help our customers with a complete one-stop shop solution.”

What do the next 12 months hold for you and the company?

“The next 12 months are going to be very exciting as we continue to scale the Private Networks business with further customer deployments. You’re likely to see more case studies from us demonstrating the transformational impact these networks can have, as well as embedding our new partnership with Accenture. We’ll also begin to explore the next generation of Private Networks called Network Slicing which leverages our physical 5G Standalone network to create virtual and independent logical networks for businesses, providing high-quality connectivity.”

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