Cellphone operator Uninor on Tuesday reiterated that the company would be forced to wind up its operation in India if the government accepted the recent recommendations of Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) “as a final policy”.

Uninor is a part of Norwegian telecom major Telenor Group.

“The recent recommendations of Trai, if implemented, would lead to an abnormal tariff hike in the telecom market. The apex court had in its order on April 2 allowed new operators to win back their licences and spectrum and continue their operations in the market. But Trai recommended fresh auctions with stringent stipulations, aimed at reducing voice (mobile)-based operators and benefiting the interest of data-based (4G, 5G, Internet) operators,” Uninor managing director Sigve Brekke told reporters here.

“Competition has delivered affordable tariff and quality service for mobile phone users. But the recommendations of Trai would lead to unanticipated hike in tariff, such as 100 per cent of the existing rates,” he added.

He added: “Trai has recommended allotment of minimum 5MHz to any operator in the new auction. This means the corresponding pan-India (for all 22 telecom circles) airwaves in 1800MHz band would cost around Rs 18,000 crore, putting immense financial pressure on the new operators. It would be approximately 10 times higher than the price paid by Uninor for getting a pan-India licence for 4.4Mhz spectrum in the 2008 auction.”

Sigve alleged that Trai’s recommendations did not adhere to the Supreme Court order. “Telenor Group has stated that if these recommendations are accepted by the government as a final policy, then the company would be forced to exit India,” he said.Sigve also opposed Trai’s rollout mandate, which requires every operator to put its own cellular antenna in every village with a 2,000-plus population.