Twenty years ago, he founded EION Wireless, which today is a part of the larger Pome-Gran Group, a global provider of fiber-centric broadband infrastructure that enables effective, economic and secure fiber and wireless high-speed communications solutions.
He was young when he started his career, but his dreams were always big. Dr Kalai S Kalaichelvan was one of the youngest Vice Presidents at Nortel, when he began his career. The desire to start something of his own, a dream to become a serial entrepreneur and bring a huge impact to society, encouraged him to leave Nortel when he was at the height of corporate success. He later co-founded four companies. He started IPine in 2001, all on his own – it was later taken over by Nakina and then by Nokia in 2005.
Today, focusing primarily on PomeGran, he has acquired many companies and grown it more than 10 times in the last 18 months. It is the parent company of internet service provider brands like IceNet, CochraneTel, Canquest Communications and Digicom. He launched the fiber-to-the-home project in Quebec, where Digicom now owns and operates over 700 miles of a fiber network. PomeGran operates high-speed broadband networks, owning over 150 towers, serving over 120 rural communities in Newfoundland, in addition to Northern and Southwestern Ontario. In March 2022, he acquired 4th Wave Business Solutions, a New York-based provider of fiber design and installation solutions to large incumbent telecom companies in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. This has led him to operate three offices in the state of New York and the US headquarters in Manhattan.
A wizard of technology innovation, he states, “We are planning to expand our broadband footprint in North America to over 2000 miles of dark fiber through acquisitions, which will provide PomeGran the maximum levels of flexibility and control, to support virtually unlimited bandwidth.”
A Tale to Tell
Kalai, with a satisfied smile, tells us about his entrepreneurial journey. “Today, we have a lot of solutions deployed around the world, in major US airports like Los Angeles, New York and Dallas Fort Worth, in South America, the Middle East and 15 Indian airports. They use our products to monitor and manage runway traffic control systems. In India, for example, TATA Communications and BSNL have been our major customers. Today, over 500,000 wireless radios are deployed globally.”
He has received numerous awards throughout his career, including Canada’s Innovator of Year in 2004; as well, EION has thrice been ranked in the Deloitte Fast 50 list. Determined to push the present to a smarter future, his focus is to enhance telecommunications through advanced technologies. He is the only Canadian to have been on the Global Advisory Board for Samsung’s CEO. He was also on the Board of Hydro Ottawa for five years. He is also a published author. Wireless Encyclopedia, Wi-Max Explained: System Fundamentals and WISP Explained (2021) were well-received and are now used as reference books. His next publication, focusing on broadband fiber networks, will be published in 2023.
But reaching the top has never been easy! All the more difficult is to maintain it. The one who does both is…
… A Born Leader!
“I always enjoyed playing with numbers and loved solving math problems. I always knew I wanted to be a mathematician. At every step in life, my parents encouraged me and pushed me to be a better version of myself. They motivated me to think outside the box and do something for a bigger impact on society.”
He was born the youngest to Sethu, a dedicated homemaker, and Venkatapathi Shanmugham, a chief financial officer. They believed in good education and encouraged their three kids to find their path forward. His mother, a very smart and talented woman, instilled good values in them. Kalai’s older siblings, Kumar, a CA, and Chitra, a dentist, are successful individuals today, and live in Canada and the US, respectively.
An all-rounder, he played table tennis in school and always sought leadership roles in school and college. Kalai pursued a Bachelor of Electronics and Communications (Honors) at Guindy Engineering College, University of Madras, Chennai, one of the oldest institutions in India. With no concrete future plan, he took advice from his professor, Prof N Sujeer, and applied for postgraduation in Electrical Engineering, specializing in numerical mathematical modeling at the University of Toronto and finally left his home for Canada in 1982. “It was challenging, no denying that. But I was game for any challenge, whatsoever!” Yes, he has been a leader since childhood, and no challenge has ever stood in his way of accomplishing his goals.
Though he took time to adjust to the new culture and environment, he adapted well, with the help of his friends and professors. He completed his PhD in 1988 from the University of Toronto under the guidance of Prof Douglas Lavers, and right after had four job offers – two in the US and two in Canada.
He decided to stay in Canada and joined Bell Northern Research in Ottawa, a premier research lab in Canada. This critical decision determined his new trajectory of life.
After a few years at Bell, Kalai joined Nortel and soon rose to the position of Vice President and General Manager. He ran three business units for Nortel across North America and around the world, and took them to become hugely successful and profitable enterprises. He credits his dear friend and mentor, Dr Rama Munikoti, who was instrumental throughout his journey of success at Nortel. “He identified early on that I have some skills and talents that I wasn’t aware of. He taught me fundamental management and leadership principles, which combined with my academic knowledge helped me achieve success faster than any of my peers. Rama was probably the proudest when I was honored with the Platinum Top Talent Award.” This award had been given to only a few out of the estimated 100,000 people who worked at Nortel at that time. He also acknowledges the tremendous support that his assistant of 25 years, Esther Leafloor, has been on this journey.
Winning the World Together!
Behind every successful man is a woman. “I couldn’t have done anything without the support of Sujatha, my wife.” She not only supports the family but is a philanthropist at heart. The two have created endowment funds at the Ottawa Hospital, contributed to the Ottawa Food Bank, Ottawa Regional Cancer Foundation, Annai Karunai Illam, Plan International, World Vision, Shriners Hospital, and DO-IT India (Development of India Together), to name a few.
Their beautiful and talented daughter, Anusha, takes after her parents. All set to conquer the world, she completed her Bachelor of Dental Surgery at the New York University College of Dentistry, and is now working in Mount Sinai Hospital, New York. “She is my pride and this small family is my world,” he says.
Kalai believes in education and has set up scholarships and endowments to allow bright STEM students, especially women, to achieve their dreams without worrying about their finances. Recently, he offered six scholarships to women who wish to study STEM for college. He contributes a lot to the development of entrepreneurship in the community by grooming, influencing and mentoring aspiring entrepreneurs as a charter member of The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE) organization.
Apart from bringing a huge socio-economic impact on the society, he enjoys reading business publications. “Read, read and read! That’s how I like to spend my leisure time,” Kalai says.
An ardent realist, a leader of exceptional wisdom and a torchbearer of several initiatives, Dr Kalai S Kalaichelvan tries and makes others understand the role technology can play in society’s advancement. With over 25 years of experience working in the telecommunications industry, his grit and tenacity has paid off and continues to take him to new heights!