10/05/2012 - Myclipp

The Economic Times/ - News, Sáb, 12 de Maio de 2012
CLIPPING INTERNACIONAL (Supreme Court)
Telenor's failure will have political
implications: Norway
NEW DELHI: Maintaining its interests have been
"innocently harmed" due to adverse developments in
the Indian telecom sector, Norway today said any
failure of Telenor's USD 3 billion investment in India
will have political implications.
"Telenor is not just any company. 54 per cent of the
shares are owned by Norwegian people through state
and thus, it has even further political implications that
such a company will be harmed.
"If this investment fails, it will be probably the biggest
loss a Norwegian company has in foreign investments
ever. I think also it will be fair to say that it will influence
the view of India as an investment country ,"
Norwegian Trade and Industry Minister, Trond Giske,
told reporters here.
Giske is the representative of Norwegian government
on the board of Telenor, which holds 67.25 per cent
stake in the telecom operator, Uninor. The balance is
held by realty major Unitech.
As many as 22 licences of Uninor were among the 122
licences cancelled by the Supreme Court on February
2, issued during the tenure of the then telecom
minister A Raja. Uninor has permit to operate till
September 7.
Giske added that Norway and India share good
bilateral relations and expressed hope that the issues
will be resolved soon.
"Bilateral relations between India and Norway are
strong and they can handle any challenges. It might
have effect on investors but government to
government cooperation continues throughout all
problems," Giske said.
"This situation after the Supreme Court ruling with the
withdrawal of licences and proposals from Trai for new
auction, have created obstacles to our future
engagement," he said.
To continue its telecom operation, Telenor needs to
acquire new licences and win spectrum through the
upcoming auction. However, the company has
expressed concern over the auction proposals of
telecom regulator, Trai.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) had
suggested a base price of Rs 3,622 crore for one
megahertz (MHz) for pan-India spectrum. This is
around 10 times higher than the price at which 2G
licences bundled with 4.4 MHz spectrum were
allocated in 2008 during Raja's tenure.
According to Trai's recommendations, a minimum of 5
Mhz spectrum should be allotted, which means that
pan-India airwaves in 1800 MHz band will cost Rs
18,100 crore.
Telenor has objected to the high base price
recommended by Trai along with network roll-out
obligations and the quantum of spectrum proposed for
auction.
Giske said the Norwegian government fully respects
the rights of Indian institutions' to take decisions but
have "innocently harmed" the interests of Telenor and
Uninor.
"I think it is truly possible to strike a balance and find a
common ground where both Supreme Court decisions
are fully respected, revenues to the Indian government
is secure and competition and good service are
provided to customers through participation of
Telenor," Giske said.
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