Kathrein elaborates on APAC expansion

Anton Kathrein.

Kathrein, a global specialist for reliable, high-quality communication technologies, sees the Asia Pacific region (APAC) at the forefront of the digital revolution and is strengthening its presence in the region accordingly. 

Anton Kathrein, Managing Partner and CEO of the Kathrein Group, said that the company is about integrating products to build a better solution for connecting and transporting data without requiring customers to think about technical details. The company's background is in large-scale projects, RFID and the automotive market, he said.

The investment in the region enables Kathrein to be closer to customers in APAC, Kathrein said. "We believe that innovation is driven by customers. The input has to come from out of a dialogue by customers and engineers," he said.

At the beginning of this year, Ashwini Bakshi, a senior professional with a strong track record in communication technologies, joined Kathrein as Managing Director APAC to set up a new regional headquarters in Singapore and steer business and sales activities in Asia-Pacific. 

Bakshi.

“We are very excited to be in APAC,” says Bakshi, Managing Director of Kathrein’s regional operations, who noted that "when you make a call, when you download a video the chances are that you're touching a Kathrein product somewhere". “Asia-Pacific is one of the most vibrant regions in the world. We have been active in Asia-Pacific for several decades, tracing back to the 1960s when we completed first broadcast projects. More recently, with the onset of mobility, we have been supplying mobile communication antennas to leading network operators in APAC. We have two manufacturing facilities in the region which make us more agile and allow us to respond to customer requests more quickly. And now, we are setting up a brand new regional headquarters in Singapore.”

Kathrein has an affiliate in Thailand, a direct presence in India and manufacturing facilities in China.

Investments into Kathrein solutions minimise total cost of ownership (TCO) while maximising total value of ownership (TVO). "Our strong value proposition is based on a recognised technology and innovation leadership, almost a hundred years of experience and German engineering at its best,” adds Bakshi.

The Kathrein booth at CommunicAsia2016. At CommunicAsia2016 the company's booth highlighted Kathrein Street Connect, an in-ground small cell solution; K-BOW, a smart indoor coverage and capacity management system, and the new UHF Cavity Slot, a broadcast antenna.

Kathrein added that custom R&D may be on the cards for Singapore. "Some of the more demanding customers in APAC want specific solutions. We have been in initial conversations with the Economic Development Board (EDB) to see what we can do," he said.

"Several customers do not want only the product. They want you to solve the problem and will pay according to the key performance indicators for the solutions," Bakshi elaborated. "End to end intervention is (what will drive) growth in APAC. We can offer not only to collect the data but also improve end user experience."

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