Unitech Wireless, in which Norway?s Telenor Group owns a majority stake, said that the recent Trai recommendations on 2G spectrum and rural rollout obligations are not favorable for the telecom industry and that the firm expects it to change in the final outcome.
?The Trai recommendations in the current form will have an adverse impact on the industry. Uninor agrees with the government on rural penetration but the mechanism opted by TRAI will be expensive to the operators. It cannot be that everybody has to have towers in every village ? there are several ways to achieve rollout like for instance spectrum sharing and intra-circle roaming,? Stein-Erik Vellan, managing director, Unitech Wireless, said.
Unitech Wireless, which is branded as Uninor in India is a joint venture between Norway’s Telenor ASA and Indian real-estate developer Unitech. Trai recently gave out a number of recommendations on 2G fees based on 3G pricing, lifting merger and acquisition restrictions and rollout obligations.
On Tuesday, the GSM services provider launched its services in five more circles, taking the regions it covers to 13. Unitech Wireless has a license to offer mobile telephony in all of India’s 22 telecom-service areas, but doesn’t have the bandwidth in Delhi circle. ?We expect to be a pan-India service provider by the end of 2010 and also get spectrum in Delhi by then,? Vellan added.
Unitech Wireless also ruled out on any possible stake sale and said that the firm is in the Indian telecom market for a long term.
?We might have missed out on the recent 3G spectrum auctions but that is not the end of the telecommunications industry in India. We look forward to bigger technologies like 4G in India and we are here to stay,? Vellan added.
The firm said it was not expecting any price increase in the competitive telecom market.and that it wouldn?t go below 20 paise cost per call.
