Despite its massive marketing frenzy while launching Uninor in India in the December quarter, its owner, the Norwegian telecom operator Telenor, has reported a sharp and un-anticipated drop in capital expenditure. Capex fell to NOK 1.196 billion compared to the previous quarter's NOK 2.076 billion. In the June quarter, Telenor had invested NOK 424 million in India. Some of the costs related to the next launch phase have slid into 2010, the company states. Uninor had 1.21 million connections by December 31, 2009. Details: Release | Report | Telenor Q4 Presentation | Financials Fiscal 2009 Versus 2010 Telenor considers the development of Uninor among its top priorities for the year. For the year 2009, Uninor has registered lower EBITDA losses than estimated at NOK 906 million (the company had earlier estimated EBITDA losses of NOK 1.5 billion). Capital expenditure of NOK 3.6 billion is according to expectations of it being in the range of NOK 3.5-4.5 billion. In 2010, Telenor expects EBITDA losses to be higher at NOK 4.5-5 billion and capital expenditure in Uninor to reduce to NOK 2.5-3.5 billion. Its net debt in Uninor was at NOK 888 million in the December quarter. Uninor aims at achieving EBITDA break-even within 3 years and Operating Cash Flow break-even within 5 years of launch of operations and a market share of 8% by 2018. Key Corporate Developments During The Quarter Uninor launched operations in Andra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh East and Uttar Pradesh West. On 22…
