Telenor can bid in 2G auction only through Uninor: court

The district court of Gurgaon has restrained Telenor from participating or negotiating in the 2G spectrum auction through any other entity other than its joint venture Uninor, giving another setback to the Norwegian company's efforts to break free of its Indian partner Unitech, CNBC-TV18 reports.

The order prohibits Telenor, which holds a majority stake in Uninor, from partnering with any Indian company at the 2G auctions, the report said.

The Punjab and Haryana High Court had, on Tuesday, dismissed an appeal against the order.

Meanwhile, reports quoting Sigve Brekke, managing director of Uninor, said the company was looking for a new Indian partner to share 26 per cent of the joint venture equity. The prospective partner, however, will not have any role in running the telecom firm's operations, he said.

''We are not looking for anyone who is looking at being involved in operations,'' Brekke said, adding that Telenor will hold the remaining 74 per cent stake. "The new partner will definitely not be a telecom or real-estate company,'' he said.

Brekke said Uninor was studying details of the 2G auction terms and a decision will be taken after clarifying on the partner issue.