Ashishkumar Donda
Pune
Summary
Telecom expert with 18+ years of experience in driving digital transformation across Core (Voice/Data), RAN, and Cloud technologies, with a strong focus on OSS modernization using automation and AI/ML solutions. Certified Red Hat Cloud Specialist (EX280) and PMP, skilled in designing and deploying scalable, resilient, cloud-native applications. Proven ability to lead cross-functional teams in developing industry-first AI-powered platforms and automated tools that enhance operational efficiency and customer experience.
Overview
19
19
years of professional experience
Work History
VoLTE Domain Lead – CORE FM, SNOC, DGM
Vodafone Idea Ltd
Pune
09.2019 - Current
- Acted as Product Owner for SNOC automation suite, defining the multi-year roadmap for AI-ML observability and ensuring alignment with organization strategic goals.
- Led multi-vendor incident and fault management and KPI assurance for IMS core and EPC core network across all circles/states of India.
- Championed Change Management across PAN-India circles, driving the adoption of automated health checks and signalling dashboards by cross-functional teams, resulting in standardized operational excellence.
- Architected and spearheaded the development of an 'Industry-First' PAN-India VoLTE Signaling Dashboard, managing 1 lakh+ links and providing a 360-degree view of inter-domain connectivity. This enhanced visibility has significantly reduced MTTR and optimized the roaming customer experience.
- Circuit Management Portal (CMP) Development: Co-developed an advanced 'Path Stitching' portal that provides visibility from the application layer down to the IP/Cloud infrastructure. This product has transformed 'black box' areas of the network into actionable data insights for the SNOC.
- Leading the implementation of Auto-healing use cases (CSFB/Auto healing) using Agentic AI and ML to detect and resolve issues like mute calls and user-plane packet drops that traditional OEM alarms miss, eliminating network blind spots.
- Achieved 100% automation of health checks for over 600 network devices, covering 50+ critical parameters, drastically reducing the Time-to-Restoration (TTR).
- Drove a 35% reduction in P1/P2 incidents across the entire CORE (Voice + Data) and a 25% reduction specifically in VoLTE through network optimization and proactive initiatives.
Senior Manager, NOC SME
Idea Cellular Limited
Ahmedabad
07.2007 - 09.2019
- Infrastructure Asset Protection (Early AI/ML Logic): Developed a 'RUS Theft Identifier'—an automated digital intelligence system that utilized alarm pattern detection to provide immediate notifications to field engineers, protecting physical infrastructure through real-time data analysis.
- Intelligent Resource Allocation: Automated the optimization of FPDCH/SPDCH parameters during peak hours. This system dynamically allocated radio resources between voice and data based on real-time demand, significantly improving KPIs and saving hundreds of manual man-hours.
- OSS Resilience Engineering: Built 2G KPI Generation tools specifically for emergency scenarios to ensure business continuity; these allowed the business to fetch critical BSC KPIs even when the primary OSS was unavailable.
- Security & Compliance SME: Acted as the single point of contact for DOT security compliance for 2G/3G/4G BSS nodes. Achieved 0 non-compliance points in rigorous external FNI audits by developing auto-healing file transfers and auto-configuration scripts for 100% compliance across all sites.
- Managed interactions with external auditors (DOT, DoT approved vendors) and conducted internal audits including security audits, ABG, and firewall assessments.
- Monitored and optimized Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) directly impacting customer experience for voice and data across all 2G/3G/4G technologies.
- Network Hardening: Led an LDAP implementation for Linux-based BSCs to ensure granular user access management, significantly hardening network security and aligning with modern 'Zero Trust' principles.
- Cross-Functional Technical Leadership: Collaborated with Core and Transmission teams to ensure seamless end-to-end network performance.
- Monitored and optimized Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) directly impacting customer experience for voice and data across all 2G/3G/4G technologies.
- Possessed knowledge of BSC/RNC level KPIs and addressed customer-related issues such as call drops and coverage, providing technical solutions for network optimization.
Quality Assurance, Testing Engineer
Varaha Systems
Ahmadabad
04.2007 - 07.2007
- Worked on Windows Microsoft-based PDA devices.
- Analyzed and tested IP telephony-based software on PDA devices.
- Managed bug tracking and analyzed software performance under various conditions and network packet analysis.
- Gained hands-on experience in network systems analysis and management.
Education
Project Management Professional (PMP) -
Project Management Institute (PMI)
06-2025
Red Hat Cloud Specialist EX280 - OpenShift
Red Hat
02-2023
B.E. - Electronics & Communications
Dharmsinh Desai University
Nadiad, Gujarat04-2007
Skills
- OpenShift
- Kubernetes
- VNF Cloud
- Hybrid Cloud Strategy
- Agentic AI
- Machine Learning (MLOps)
- Process Automation
- Digital Initiatives
- Data Analysis
- Root Cause Analysis
- Project/Program Management (PMP)
- Product Development
- Operational Efficiency
- KPI Assurance
- Stakeholder Management
- Agile/Waterfall Methodologies
- Core Network (IMS, VoLTE, EPC)
- RAN (2G/3G/4G)
- Signaling protocols (Diameter, SIP, Sigtran)
- Project management
- Fault & Incident Management
Projects And Key Achievements
CSI (Continuous service improvement), Vodafone Idea Ltd
● Implemented IMS CORE VoLTEand EPC CORE web GUI signaling dashboard at Vi India, showcasing over 100k+ signaling links data in a comprehensive view. Developed national, circle/state, inter and intra circle/state signaling connectivity visualization, categorized by location, node, interface, and protocol. Covered various protocols including Diameter (SCTP/IP), SIP, Sigtran, H248, and GTP (UDP/IP). Addressed multiple interfaces such as Rx, Cx, Sh, Sigtran, Mr, Mw, Mx, Ic, ISC, gm, DNS, Gx, Gy, S11, S5, S8, S6a, S13, and S2B. Included a range of network elements like SBC, CFX, TAS, MRF, DNS, HSS, HLR, STP, DRA, EPDG, EIR, MSS, PGW, SGW, PCRF, and MME.
● Automated Web GUI based health check for network elements, subscriber dashboard, and data KPIs dashboard, enabling one-click access for entire Vi India without human intervention.
● Resolved PAN India RTP user plane and CORE signaling links issues through various ping packet drop and latency checks and implemented automated alerts to enhance monitoring efficiency.
● Re-engineered and automated CBC: Cell info broadcast in 2G network, facilitating auto cell info broadcast in VIL network, ensuring marketing product reachability to all customers. Increased revenue by INR 1 Million per month for GUJ circle.
● Automated PAN India Cloud location real-time VM to compute and leaf-spine mapping, assisting operation teams with real-time troubleshooting for critical network issues.
● Developed automated sites rehoming tool for 3G network, achieving significant savings of INR 11.8 million in a single night by migrating 1151 NodeB using this project tool.
● Increased network capacitywithout any PO to vendor by expanding capacity of network: BSC in-house expansion in highly utilized voice and data traffic geographical area, ensuring no customer complaints due to congestion and saving costs for the organization. INR 5 million saved during this project.
CXX (Customer experience excellence), Vodafone Idea Ltd
● Achieved a 95% reduction in Core P1P2 outages and critical KPI degradation cases for VI India over five years through network optimization and proactive initiatives.
● Reduced MTTR by enhancing detection, correlation, and restoration processes, including alarm to TT, TT correlation, and outage correlation with various automations.
● Implemented auto healing automation and created standard operating procedures for alarm and problem resolution.
Core Competencies
OpenShift, Kubernetes, VNF Cloud, Hybrid Cloud Strategy, Agentic AI, Machine Learning (MLOps), Process Automation, Digital Initiatives, Data Analysis, Root Cause Analysis, Project/Program Management (PMP), Product Development, Operational Efficiency, KPI Assurance, Stakeholder Management, Agile/Waterfall Methodologies, Core Network (IMS, VoLTE, EPC), RAN (2G/3G/4G), Network Optimization, Signaling Protocols (Diameter, SIP, Sigtran), Fault & Incident Management
Timeline
VoLTE Domain Lead – CORE FM, SNOC, DGM
Vodafone Idea Ltd
09.2019 - Current
Senior Manager, NOC SME
Idea Cellular Limited
07.2007 - 09.2019
Quality Assurance, Testing Engineer
Varaha Systems
04.2007 - 07.2007
Project Management Professional (PMP) -
Project Management Institute (PMI)
Red Hat Cloud Specialist EX280 - OpenShift
Red Hat
B.E. - Electronics & Communications
Dharmsinh Desai University