Sigve Brekke, CEO of Norway’s Telenor, has confirmed that the company is in talks to boost its spectrum assets in India. Brekke highlighted the need for sufficient spectrum in India to be able to meet customers’ demand for data and digital services going forward.
Sigve Brekke, CEO of Norway’s Telenor (OSE:TEL), has confirmed that the company is in talks to boost its spectrum assets in India.
“We are in discussions with someone for expanding to all India, but cannot comment if we will do it,” Brekke told reporters at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. He declined to name which “someone” Telenor is in talks with or comment on whether the company would go through with a deal.
Brekke highlighted the need for sufficient spectrum in India to be able to meet customers’ demand for data and digital services going forward.
“Multiple operators are potentially looking to sell or share spectrum and it is of course natural for us to look into that,” a spokesperson for the Norwegian telco said.
Last November, a local report stated that Telenor was close to reaching a deal, valued at some Rs35bn (US$524m), to buy 4G spectrum in two circles from rival Videocon Telecom. According to the report, Telenor India would gain the rights to airwaves in Uttar Pradesh (East) and Bihar.
In late 2015, Videocon Telecom had already agreed to sell 4G spectrum to Idea Cellular, a unit of conglomerate Aditya Birla, in two service areas – Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh (West) – for Rs33.10bn (US$499m).
Telenor India is the country’s eighth largest mobile operator with some 47.78 million customers as of Q3 2015, according to regulator Trai. Present in just six of India’s 22 circles, Telenor has been looking to beef up its presence in the country for some time.
India is gearing up for another spectrum auction in the first half of the year, with proceeds expected to surpass the record US$17.7bn raised in the 2015 tender. Trai’s recommended starting prices have been criticised by the GSMA and operators as being too high.