Telenor to drop Indian partner Unitech after its 22 licenses were cancelled in 2G scandal

Telenor to drop Indian partner Unitech

Telenor wants to drop its Indian joint-venture partner Unitech after the Supreme Court revoked their mobile licences in the country and is seeking a new local partner, the Norwegian telecoms firm said on Wednesday.

Norwegian telecom company Telenor has served a divorce notice to Unitech, seeking compensation from the Indian firm for damages caused to their mobile venture, Uninor, from a recent Supreme Court judgement, and said it was looking for a new partner in India.

Europe’s third-biggest telecom company said it no longer believed that its strategic partnership with Unitech had a future and would start the process of looking for a new Indian partner. A source familiar with Telenor’s plans said it had tapped London-listed metals group Vedanta Resources’ Indian arm, Sterlite Industries Ltd, and Kolkata-based Srei Infrastructure, which runs mobile tower company Viom Networks, to be its new partner. These companies could not be reached for comment.

Uninor was one of the worst affected by the Supreme Court’s decision earlier this month to cancel 122 mobile licences issued under a scandal-tainted 2008 sale. The company, 67.25% owned by Telenor, held 22 of these licences.