Norway-based Telenor Group, which is present in India since 2009, is trying hard to expand in India. The 100 per cent subsidiary of Telenor – Telewings Communications Services (Uninor) – provides pre-paid GSM mobile services in six circles – Uttar Pradesh (West), UP (East), Bihar (including Jharkhand), Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat – and is set to launch in Assam.
The company sees good demand due to its ‘sabse sasta’ (the cheapest offer) slogan. The big challenge, however, will be to scale up to 4G and 3G services as it does not have enough spectrum.
Also, it does do not have a pan-India footprint. With 48 million customers, Uninor is getting ready to improve its services and expand its network in partnership with China-based Huawei. It plans to spend ₹1,200 crore under this deal, Vivek Sood, Chief Executive Officer of Uninor, told
There are three objectives that we are going to meet from this transformation project. First, this is about completely swapping our network – whole radio access as well as core network – to make it more efficient in terms of energy, as energy consumption is one of the largest costs for operators.
This will bring down our costs by nearly 30 per cent. The equipment is also smaller in size so it will not be inside cabinets, but outdoors. Some of these will be installed on towers/antenna itself. Since these do not need separate space in base stations, coverage becomes more efficient, with around 20 per cent increase in indoor coverage.
Second, this will reduce transmission load, so bandwidth consumption will come down.
Third, and most important, this will help us to be future-ready. If we decide to go for 4G at some point in time, we just have to upgrade the software, with very little investment on equipment.
Is the idea just to get into 3G/4G?
There are two things – spectrum and capability. This allows us capability. And, once you activate 4G, spectrum will be needed. But our view is that it will require a couple of years for 4G to be really developed as an ecosystem. From my network standpoint and capability, hopefully, we will have the spectrum to be able to do that by then.
Won’t trading and sharing also help in achieving that?
Earlier, we were looking at auctions as the only option, but the Centre’s clearing trading and sharing guidelines opens up more avenues.
Are you in talks with other operators for such partnerships?
When it comes to the spectrum space, there are different optionsfor different circles.
What is your take on 4G services by Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio? Don’t you think you are lagging?
Our view is that one should get little bit of technology – 2G, 3G or 4G. We took a position on being a mass market operator, so our focus was to provide necessary services and bandwidth affordable prices.
Yes, 4G holds a better experience, but is 4G really relevant for somebody who wants to use the Internet for only WhatsApp or Facebook? Do we have the right resources, technology and services platform that suits the customer segment we want to serve? From that perspective, we still have time.
Would you prefer to bid for spectrum in the upcoming auctions?
We have really looked at services that a mass market customer requires, and realised that we need availability of spectrum. We can find it through sharing and trading, but will also look at auction as a second aspect. Telenor has a long-term view about India and is here to invest. All this will depend on the demand-supply element and the spectrum price. Money is not a problem.
How do you plan to expand your network?
We are present in six circles and will be launching in Assam soon. We will look at other options but doing new circles organically will be a challenge. So, it has to be inorganic, by partnering with somebody. We are open to a sharing partnership with BSNL for towers.
What new activities are you looking at for corporate social responsibility?
We have taken a strategic view of ‘Internet for All’ and one clear focus is to drive Internet penetration. Around 23-24 per cent of our customers access the Internet. We intend to take this to 50 per cent by 2017.
To do that, we plan activities such as Internet education. We have shops as well as ‘Internet on Wheels’, which is essentially a van that goes around smaller towns and talks about Internet and its benefits. We have a gender diversity programme where we look at how women can adopt and use mobile and Internet. One can call it CSR.