 "(From left) Upanga Dutta, chief marketing officer with Vivek Sood, CEO, Telenor India and Morten Kalsen Sorby, executive vice president and head of Asia, Telenor, in New Delhi")
Uninor, the Indian arm of Norway's telecom major Telenor, has rebranded itself as Telenor (India) as it prepares itself for the next round of its journey, six years after it entered the Indian telecom market in 2009. With this it finally sheds the remnants of its association with realty firm Unitech, which formally ended about three years back. Telenor acquired 100 per cent stake in Uninor last year after the government allowed 100 per cent FDI in the telecom sector.
The rebranding however will not change its positioning as a 'value-for-money' brand in the Indian market as reflected in its old tagline - the 'Sabse Sasta' brand. The new 360 degree campaign being kicked off tomorrow carries a new tag line - 'Ab life full paisa vasool'. Although the campaign carries a different tone, as evident from the new tagline where the company is trying to brand itself as a fair value player rather than a cheap and inexpensive operator, it has kept its positioning the same. Telenor will continue to be a mass market player just as Uninor was.
The company says it will spend about Rs 100 crore on the rebranding exercise, which started last month when the company formally adopted the name by which its parent operates across the globe. 'This is about more than changing a brand name. This is about preparing Telenor India for a new and exciting future. By taking a broader, value-driven position, Telenor India will appeal to new audiences. We believe that the fundamentals in India remain strong with a large and young population and solid economic growth. However, a large part of the population remains unconnected to modern telecom services,' said Sigve Brekke, president and CEO, Telenor Group.
The new campaign focuses on establishing the company as one that is keen to deliver value for money. It is in line with the company's broader strategy - Uninor says it was the only company to compensate mobile users for 'local' call drops in India, a service that has also been extended to STD and ISD calls for all the networks.
The entity, fully owned by Telenor Group, changes its brand identity along with the legal company name being registered as Telenor India Communications Pvt. Ltd.
It marks the company's commitment to the Indian market, its executives say as Telenor wants to expand in India and is exploring various options such as spectrum sharing, trading and participating in the next round of auctions to acquire spectrum. 'The brand change is a reflection of our commitment to India and our consumers as we strive to offer superior value in meeting their evolving needs through affordable, easy to use and fair means,' Morten Karlsen Sorby, head of Asia, Telenor Group said. The company wants to be seen as a telecom brand that is invested in India for the long term. 'We see Telenor (India) as exporter of best practices,' he added.
India is one of the fastest growing markets for Telenor with about 47.5 million users. Globally the company has 190 million subscribers. For the second quarter this year, India revenues contributed to about 12 per cent of total revenues from Asia. And Asia contributes about 53 per cent of the global revenues.
Telenor has had a tough time in India since its entry through a joint venture with realty firm Unitech. In 2010, it suffered a setback when a Supreme Court order cancelled the licenses of all the new players given out by former telecom minister A Raja. Telenor participated in the auction later and bagged spectrum in six circles, where it is now operational. Unitech later exited the company and last year, when the government allowed 100 per cent FDI in telecom, Uninor was made a 100 per cent subsidiary of Telenor.
Telenor says it entered Indian market as the 13th operator and at a time when the industry had low average revenue per user (ARPU). It has managed to stand out because of its focus on mass offerings. The company currently offers prepaid 2G services to its users but is making its network ready for future services such as 4G.
'We leveraged a multi-SIM market by our three pillar strategy of offerings to the consumers,' the company's India CEO Vivek Sood said. 'Also, we will offer more services in entertainment and social media apart from financial services through a payment bank,' he added.
Telenor has operations in 13 markets in the Nordic region, Central and Eastern Europe and in Asia. Telenor India operates in six circles - Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh East and West and ranks fourth in revenue and customer market share. 'We will continue to offer the most affordable services and deliver innovative solutions like call drop reimbursement and customised product offers. The customer wants us to be fair,' Sood said.
