Uninor is on the hunt for high-speed data spectrum, including in the 900 MHz band, through the upcoming auctions and other means such as an acquisition, with Videocon Telecom being "a viable option" for a buy, its new chief executive said.
"We want to prepare ourselves as the market is changing from being voice-centric to data-centric in the future," Vivek Sood told ET. "This would mean more data spectrum." He, however, added that while 3G and then 4G would be the way to go for the industry in, say, two years from now, there is still juice in 2G data with just over a quarter — 27% — of its nearly 44 million users using mobile internet.
He added that for now, the company would continue playing its 'Sabse Sasta' card to attract and retain subscribers, which has seen it gain 1 percentage point user market share in 2014.
Backed by Norway's Telenor Group, which now fully owns the company, Uninor offers 2G prepaid services in six circles, but doesn't have a 3G bandwidth. And with 4G not expected to be widely adopted for some years now in India, analysts fear Uninor may be left far behind in the rush by operators to bag higher-paying data customers unless they get data airwaves soon.
Sood admitted that that the company would in time need to migrate to the 3G and 4G technologies and said it will upgrade its networks to support the surging data-driven traffic over the next 15-18 months, which would include improving transmission, network transformation and acquiring spectrum. "The game is changing now".
Uninor on Monday applied for acquiring airwaves in the auctions beginning March 4, where the government is putting up 177.8 MHz in efficient but expensive 900MHz band, 99.2MHz in 1,800 MHz band and 5 MHz in 2,100 MHz band that is used for 3G services. Sood, 50, who took over as CEO around two months back, said banks are willing to fund the unleveraged company in their expansion efforts.
When asked specifically whether Uninor would be interested in acquiring Videocon Telecom, which has liberalised spectrum in the 1800 MHz in seven circles but operates in only four, Sood said: "Yes, it's a viable option. I don't know what they are thinking, but there is an obvious compatibility since both of us have got the liberalised spectrum".
Sood, however, clarified that Telenor has not held any formal talks with the Videocon Group, whose co-promoter Rajkumar Dhoot recently said it was open to selling 49% and cede management control in its telecom venture. Videocon has licences in MP/Chhattisgarh, UP (E), UP (W), Bihar/Jharkhand, Gujarat, Punjab and Haryana.
Uninor, which operates in UP (West), UP (East), Bihar (including Jharkhand), Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat, said spectrum in some circles in the 900 MHz band could also be of interest in the coming airwaves sale. "There is a big opportunity we have in our own circles, we still have to be prepared for the next technology move which comes, but it does not mean that others (circles) are not attractive," he said.
Spectrum in the 900 MHz band in Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal, Bihar, Odisha and the Northeast, owned by incumbents, including Reliance Communications, which is up for renewal in the upcoming auctions, could give a fillip to Uninor's existing footprint as 3G services can be offered on this band, say analysts.
In the 2014 auctions, Uninor acquired airwaves in a new circle of Assam besides additional spectrum in UP East, UP West, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar and Jharkhand in the 1800MHz band. Sood said the government was yet to grant microwave spectrum or access spectrum in Assam, after which it will take three to four months to roll out operations in the new circle
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