Protect Telenor’s India investment: Norway tells Pranab

Telenor, Norway’s telecom giant, made a renewed pitch to the Indian government on Tuesday to expedite the auction of 2G or second generation spectrum. Jon Fredrik Baksaas, CEO, Telenor and Trond Giske, Norway’s industry minister, met with finance minister Pranab Mukherjee in New Delhi.

Here are latest developments:

• Jon Fredrik Baksaas, CEO, Telenor told Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday that the company wanted protection of Telenor’s $ 3bn investment in India. He said that the government needs to hold auctions as quickly as possible as these rules could decide on the entry of new entrants.

• Trond Giske, Norwegian industry minister, said that he raised the Telenor investment issue with the Indian finance minister and sought a fair and quick process for auction of cancelled Uninor licences. He also said that Norway is seeking an increase in the licence period if auctions could take time.

• Last month, Telenor ASA told the Indian government that it wanted to resolve its licence dispute, but said it would seek damages if the cancellation of its 22 licences was not settled. "We are hopeful that it remains the government's intent to protect and encourage bona fide foreign investment in the country," Telenor spokesman had said in an emailed statement.

• It was reported last month that Telenor would seek nearly $14 billion in damages and wanted a solution within six months or it would seek international arbitration for failure to protect its investment in India.

• The Supreme Court in early February ordered the revocation of all 122 mobile licences awarded in a scandal-tainted 2008 sale to be revoked in four months. The order covered 22 licences for Telenor's local joint venture.

• Telenor said it informed the Indian government of its "intent to invoke" the provisions of the so-called Comprehensive Economic Cooperation Agreement (CECA) between India and Singapore. The Norwegian company owns the stake in the Indian joint venture through its unit registered in Singapore.

• Telenor, which bought into its Indian venture after the licences had been awarded, has said it has been "unfairly harmed" by the court order. It had filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking a review of the order which was dismissed.

• Telenor's notice followed the one by Russian conglomerate Sistema that asked India to settle within six month a fight over the court order to revoke 21 licences held by its local unit, citing a bilateral pact between India and Russia

• Telenor paid about $1.2 billion for a 67.25 percent stake in its Indian unit and has guaranteed bank loans for the venture. The company says it has invested about 140 billion rupees in India.

• The joint venture, which operates under the Uninor brand name, has been the most aggressive of the newer telecom companies in the fiercely-competitive Indian market. Uninor ranks eighth in the market of 15, with 41 million customers as of February.

• Telenor has also been embroiled in a dispute with its Indian partner, Unitech Ltd Telenor has accused Unitech of "fraud and misrepresentation" after the licence cancellation order and has said it would seek to migrate the business to a fresh venture with a new partner.

(with inputs from Reuters)