<p>Norway's Telenor will bring Lakshdeep Investments & Finance Pvt. Ltd into its new Indian Telewings venture to bid jointly for new mobile telephone licenses, Telenor said on Friday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Lakshdeep replaces Unitech as Telenor's Indian partner after authorities cancelled their Uninor venture's licenses granted in a corruption-tainted 2008 licensing round.<br /><br />Lakshdeep, a company controlled by Sudhir Valia, will contribute an undisclosed amount of equity into the new Telewings joint venture, in which Telenor will hold a 74 per cent stake, Telenor added.<br /><br />Telenor has already submitted an application for prequalification in the upcoming auction as it aims to stay in the country despite being stripped of its permits.<br /><br />The Supreme Court cancelled 122 regional operating permits held by eight carriers earlier this year, forcing operators to reapply for their permits.<br /><br /> Friday's deal makes it possible for Telenor to take part in next month's auction of Indian mobile telephone spectrum as local rules allow a maximum 74 per cent shareholding by foreign companies in telecom carriers. <br /><br />“A final decision on whether to participate or not will be made before the auction starts," Telenor said.<br /><br />Espen Torgersen, analyst at Carnegie, said, "I expect that the risk for the financial investor to be very much reduced, and probably also the upside."</p>
<p>Norway's Telenor will bring Lakshdeep Investments & Finance Pvt. Ltd into its new Indian Telewings venture to bid jointly for new mobile telephone licenses, Telenor said on Friday.<br /><br /></p>.<p>Lakshdeep replaces Unitech as Telenor's Indian partner after authorities cancelled their Uninor venture's licenses granted in a corruption-tainted 2008 licensing round.<br /><br />Lakshdeep, a company controlled by Sudhir Valia, will contribute an undisclosed amount of equity into the new Telewings joint venture, in which Telenor will hold a 74 per cent stake, Telenor added.<br /><br />Telenor has already submitted an application for prequalification in the upcoming auction as it aims to stay in the country despite being stripped of its permits.<br /><br />The Supreme Court cancelled 122 regional operating permits held by eight carriers earlier this year, forcing operators to reapply for their permits.<br /><br /> Friday's deal makes it possible for Telenor to take part in next month's auction of Indian mobile telephone spectrum as local rules allow a maximum 74 per cent shareholding by foreign companies in telecom carriers. <br /><br />“A final decision on whether to participate or not will be made before the auction starts," Telenor said.<br /><br />Espen Torgersen, analyst at Carnegie, said, "I expect that the risk for the financial investor to be very much reduced, and probably also the upside."</p>