Telenor says no plans to have operations in all India circles

Norwegian telecom major Telenor today said it has no plans to have operations in all circles across India although any possibility of consolidation cannot be ruled out.
"We are not planning to go pan-India...," Telenor Group President and Chief Executive Jon Fredrik Baksaas told reporters at the Mobile World Congress here.
"Does that mean that we would not look at consolidations? Of course, we will be a part of the consolidation speculation in some way or the other but concrete actions in that direction cannot be visualised at this point of time," he added.
The Indian government recently announced guidelines that allow companies to merge with up to 50 per cent combined market share in terms of both subscriber numbers and adjusted gross revenues from telecom services.

Telenor's India unit Uninor currently has presence in seven circles. The company has acquired additional spectrum in four circles and added Assam circle to its network.
Uninor holds spectrum purchased through auction and therefore, the company will not have to pay additional price if it plans to acquire any other company holding airwaves purchased through auction.

The M&A guidelines say that acquirers of companies holding spectrum, allocated at old rate, will have to pay to the government the difference between the initial amount (Rs 1,658 crore for pan-India as per 2001 auction) and the market rate determined through the latest auction.

"We from Telenor perspective are ok with the spectrum that we added to our circles. We have an attackers mindset in India to the extent that we address that part of the market which are at the lower end of the pyramid and we create afforadibility, that is our survival tactic," he said.
Baksaas said the tactic has worked for the company even during the period when it did not had security on licenced spectrum.
Uninor's licences in all the circles were cancelled by the Supreme Court in its February 2012 order. The company then bought spectrum in six circles in the November 2012 auction. It also bought spectrum for Assam circle in the recently concluded spectrum auction.