Wednesday 19 December 2012

Uninor shutting Ops in WB; tells users to port out


Supreme Court has ordered license cancellation of Uninor, the operator will have to close down operations in 2 circles

GSM service provider, Uninor is all set to close down its operations in Kolkata and West Bengal circles as it has now told its users to port their numbers to other service providers.

On February 2, 2012, Supreme Court of India had quashed Uninor's licenses as a result of which the teleco will have to stop its operations in the two circles of Kolkata and West Bengal on January 19, 2013.

To avoid inconvenience for its existing customers, Uninor has requested all its customers in Kolkata and West Bengal to exhaust their balance by January 18, 2013, and utilise mobile number portability to port out to any other operator of choice.

But the teleco's operations in the Mumbai circle are continuing as Telenor Group evaluates the possibility of participating in the second auction for spectrum in Mumbai, indicated Indian authorities of the company.

"While we have ensured continuity in six circles, license cancellation and the unavailability of new spectrums in 2013 auctions means we will discontinue operations in Kolkata and West Bengal. We have all been a part of an extraordinary fight back for which I credit our employees and partners and remain grateful to our customers in each of our circles. In Kolkata and West Bengal our focus now is on conducting the process of closure with full transparency and responsibility to minimise the negative impact this outcome has on all those affected by it," said Sigve Brekke, managing director of Uninor.

In the two circles of Kolkata and West Bengal, Uninor has a total subscriber base of 5.6 million of which 57 per cent are active subscribers by TRAI (October 2012). In a move simplify the process of porting Uninor has further strengthened its MNP code generation processes for customers in these circles.

Uninor has also dropped the 90-day lock in to allow customers to port-out even if they have taken up a Uninor subscription less than 90 days ago. Text SMS'es will be sent to all customers in Kolkata and West Bengal, encouraging them to exhaust their balance and port out to an operator of choice. MNP will also be recommended to customers in the two circles through IVRs on all customer service help lines as well.

The company has suspended the supply of any new SIM cards and recharges in Kolkata and West
Bengal circles with immediate effect, as per the license guidelines.

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