(by Diwaskar Chettri & Nikhil Pahwa) Norwegian telecom operator Telenor expects services in India to contribute marginally to group revenues before the turn of the (calendar) year, since the company plans to roll out services under the Uninor brand name only by the end of the fourth quarter. For the year, Unitech Wireless / Uninor is expected to incur an EBITDA loss of around NOK 1.5 billion, and capital expenditure in the range of NOK 3.5-4.5 billion. Speaking on the companys Q3 earnings conference call, execs declined to comment on specific launch plans, only stating that they'll start "with a number of circles, and there will be a second wave next year." Last quarter, Telenor had announced plans to launch in 5 circles in Q4. As we had reported earlier this year, Telenor does not intend to participate in Indias 3G auctions. On 19th October 2009, India's Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the recommendation by FIPB for Telenor to obtain a shareholding of 67.25% in Unitech Wireless. However, this was subject to certain conditions, which weren't mentioned in the release, and according to Telenor, the final documentation is yet to be presented to Unitech Wireless. On The Price War: Spectrum Will Win Uninor will launch services in the midst of a massive price war in the Indian telecom arena, with most telcos having cut prices or modified pricing terms to attract customers. Chief Executive Jon Fredrik Baksaas said that "the price mechanism over time will probably will look differently from this as spectrum becomes…
