MUMBAI -- TechWeb's Light Reading (www.lightreading.com), the leading research-led media company serving the global communications marketplace, today announced that it has opened offices in Mumbai and New Delhi and has hired two telecom industry veterans to drive sales and marketing and content in India.

Kailash Shirodkar, who previously ran sales and marketing for the IT Media division of The Indian Express Limited, a leading tech publisher, is Light Reading’s Director of Sales and Marketing in India and is based is Mumbai. Gagandeep Kaur, who previously was Senior Assistant Editor at telecom magazine Voice and Data, is Light Reading’s India Editor, based in New Delhi.

Shirodkar and Kaur will work with analysts from Heavy Reading and Pyramid Research, Light Reading’s telecom research and analyst groups, to create and drive two new events in India in 2010. The first, Mobile Broadband India, will focus on the new business strategies and access and core network technologies that communications service providers need to implement to handle the explosive growth of new mobile handset users in India. A second event is planned for the third or fourth quarter. Launch of a Light Reading India Website is planned for later this year.

In addition, Light Reading India will work closely with UBM India, which will provide office and event operations and support. UBM India, a division of Light Reading’s parent company, UBM (a $2.7 billion worldwide B2B media company), already produces a wide number of large and successful events and online businesses in India in the pharmaceutical, food, security, and jewelry industries, as well as a number of high-tech events and media such as TechWeb Live’s Interop Mumbai, InformationWeek India, and the Embedded Systems Conference India.

“The worldwide communications industry is being driven by incredible growth in India and China, and Light Reading, as the global telecom industry media leader, aims to help its customers access and be part of these markets,” says Joseph Braue, SVP and Group Director of Light Reading. “While other telecom media and event companies are under financial pressure and retreating, Light Reading continues to grow with the telecom market because of the power of its brand and the resources and global reach of TechWeb and UBM.”

Kailash Shirodkar has over 10 years of experience in sales and marketing in the technology industry. He’s a telecom veteran, with a Bachelor of Engineering in Telecom and an MBA in Telecom Management with a specialization in Marketing. For the last seven years he was with the IT Media division of The Indian Express Limited. Recruited in 2003 as Manager of Sales for Express Computer, India’s leading IT magazine, he went on to head the sales and marketing function for its IT media division. Shirodkar is based in the UBM Mumbai office and can be reached at [email protected]. His mobile number is +91-9870103394, and his direct line is +91-22-67692419. Please contact Shirodkar for any inquiries about Light Reading India or Mobile Brandband India.

Gagandeep Kaur previously was Senior Assistant Editor at Voice & Data where she managed a team of five reporters covering telecom news and analysis, as well as writing stories and interviewing high-visibility India telecom execs. Prior to that she ran the Infotech section of Indiatimes.com and was a Senior Correspondent on the business staff for the Times of India. In addition, she had a stint with Satyam Computer Services as an internal writer. Kaur is based in the New Dehli office and can be reached at [email protected]. Her mobile number is +91-09999907641, and her office phone is 91-011-23765551.

For further information, contact Kailash Shirodkar in Mumbai or Amy Averbook, Light Reading Corporate Marketing Director, at [email protected].