Telenor India, earlier called Uninor, is holding talks with peers for trading in airwaves, which will help the Indian arm of the Norwegian carrier offer high speed data services in a market that is swiftly embracing 3G and even making initial moves towards 4G. “We know we have to move to the next stage of services, for which we need spectrum. However, there is still demand on 2G,“ chief executive Vivek Sood said.
Sood's comments came on a day Telenor India Communications became the new legal entity from erstwhile Telewings India, which operated under the Uninor brand. The new brand name is now Telenor India, and the company said it will spend around Rs.100 crore to communicate its new brand to its markets.When asked whether Telenor India was in discussions with players, including Videocon and Aircel, Sood said: “We are in the initial stage of discussions with all operators on spectrum trading.“
The Cabinet has cleared sharing and trading in airwaves, which could be important for the telco that currently has just 2G airwaves, which isn't widely considered good enough for high-speed data services typically being offered by its larger rivals through 3G technology.
Videocon Telecom CEO Arvind Bali recently said the company is likely to finalise airwave sharing and trading pacts shortly with at least two mobile operators, including a leading European carrier, widely believed to be Telenor. The potential pact with the leading European incumbent is planned in Madhya Pradesh, Haryana and Gujarat to offer a combination of 4G and 2G voice services, Bali has said.
Uninor operates in the six circles of UP (West), UP (East), Bihar (including Jharkhand), Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, and claims to be at No. 4 by revenue. It serves 47.55 million customers at present, much lower than market leader Bharti Airtel, which has over 230 million customers in the country. It plans to launch services in Assam early 2016.
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