Indian telecom operator Uninor said on December 17, 2012, that it will shut down operations in two of its circles in India, namely Kolkata and West Bengal. The move has been taken by the company citing that it is unlikely to get a spectrum in those parts.
Uninor is among those operators whose licences were cancelled by the Supreme Court in the month of February 2012. Norwegian telecom operator Telenor holds a major stake in Uninor as well and its licenses are valid only till January 18, 2013.
The telecom company released a statement in which it said, “The company will issue a public notice to all its customers in Kolkata and West Bengal requesting them to exhaust their balance by January 18, 2013, and utilize mobile number portability to port out to any other operator of choice”. In the two circles, Uninor has a subscriber base of 5.6 million and the company has also suspended the sales of its SIM cards and recharge options in the circles with immediate effect.
The statement added that a new spectrum is not likely to be available to auction winners in 2013 and the company will have to stop operations in Kolkata and West Bengal on January 19, 2013. However, the company will continue operations in its Mumbai circle, as there is the possibility of participating in a second auction for the spectrum in Mumbai.
