Telenor to expand in Asia; expects to break even in India

Citing its 40 million subscriber base in India, Norwegian telecom major Telenor today said it expects to break even soon in the country and is planning to expand in other parts of Asia.

"Our earlier experience turned out to be an expensive investment but now we have nearly 40 million subscriber base in India and we are expected to break even soon," said Svein Aaser, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Telenor, during a function here.

Aaser also appreciated talents in India. "Indian talent pool is great and we have trained them in Norway as well," he said, terming India as the most competitive market where people think differently.

"(We are) choosing better partners and we should have good partnership. We have tied up with Wipro and will expandin other parts of Asia," he said, giving details of the company's expansion plans.

Telenor's Indian arm is Uninor. It holds 67.25 per cent ownership interest in Uninor which has 3,353 employees, according to Telenor's website.

Uninor currently offers its services in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, UP East and UP West.

President Pranab Mukherjee is presently on a state visit to Norway, which began on October 12. He will also visit Finland tomorrow.