Telenor on Friday said it completed the acquisition of the 26 percent balance stake in Telewings from Lakshdeep Investment & Finance, to own 100 percent stake.
Recently, Telenor received approval from the Indian government’s Foreign Investment Promotion Board (FIPB) to increase its stake from 74 percent to 100 percent.
“Telenor Group has a long-term view on India, and we are encouraged by the strong growth of our Indian operation. The company continues to capture market share every month and is leading in new subscriber additions in many of its circles,” said Sigve Brekke, EVP of Telenor Group and chairman of the Board of Telewings.
Recently, Vodafone India, a rival of Uninor, has become the 100 percent subsidiary of Vodafone plc of the U.K.
Uninor revenues in the first half of 2014 rose 40 percent compared to the same period last year.
Following a strategy shift this year, close to 20 percent of the company’s subscribers are now active internet users. By 2017, Uninor is expecting that 50 percent of its mobile users will have online access on the mobile phone. Uninor, which has more than 40 million users, has presence in seven circles with a total population of around 600 million. Indian telecom market has around 900 million mobile SIM cards.
Uninor has a network of more than 1,500 stores and 365,000 points of sale. The company will also launch services in Assam early next year.
Baburajan K
editor@telecomlead.com