SC order leaves Telenor's Indian subscribers disconnected

Telecom operator Uninor, a joint venture between Norway's Telenor and India's Unitech shut down operations in the Mumbai telecom circle abruptly on Saturday midnight, leaving its 18 lakh customers in the circle disconnected.

The closure is a result of the Supreme Court order on Friday that companies that did not win spectrum in the November auction must stop operations forthwith.

The company said in a statement on Sunday that as it didn't get a temporary licence after the order, it had to stop operations and had informed its customers and business partners accordingly.

"I deeply regret the consequences this has for our customers, employees and business partners - each of whom have been a part of a remarkable fightback last year. We will now make every effort, within the limitations of this court order, to minimise the negative impact on all affected by this development," said Sigve Brekke, managing director of Uninor.

Telenor had continued its operations in Mumbai as it had expressed the intention to participate in the next auction to buy spectrum for Mumbai telecom zone. The company had earlier stopped operations in other telecom zones where its licences were cancelled.

The six circles of Maharashtra and Goa, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh East, UP West, Bihar and Jharkhand, and Andhra Pradesh, where it acquired spectrum in the November auction, are active.