Uninor reshuffles to stay in the game

Beleaguered cellco Uninor, backed by Telenor of Norway, has announced that it will be restructuring its operations, and re-allocating resources to focus on the best performing areas in order to improve efficiency and reduce operating cash flow losses. The cellco will focus on nine of its circles – namely Mumbai, Calcutta, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh (East and West), West Bengal and Bihar – whilst scaling back operations in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and Orissa. The telco made no mention of the other circles that it had previously offered services. The company said in a statement that ‘lack of clarity around the auctions’ had forced the company to ‘take stronger steps to ensure optimal fund utilisation.’ Uninor’s managing director, Sigve Brekke added that the cellco’s plan going forward ‘is to enter the auctions with a very strong presence in these nine circles, auction rules permitting.’