Bloomberg reports that Telenor is coming under pressure from investors to quit its Indian operation Uninor. The article claims that, nine months after its debut in the market, Telenor has racked up NOK3.4 billion (US$556 million) in operating losses, and analysts believe the operator’s goal to become profitable within three years now looks highly unlikely. Telenor now owns 67.25 percent of Uninor, which it said in February it spent NOK61.2 billion to acquire from Unitech Wireless. Uninor has launched services in 13 telecom circles in India but controls only 0.95 percent of the market, according to Wireless Intelligence. India is a hugely competitive market, with 15 operators battling for control of the country’s 636 million connections.

Separately, Bloomberg reports that fellow Indian startup operator Videocon may sell a majority stake in its operation to an overseas partner after investing INR50 billion (US$1.1 billion) in building the network and purchasing spectrum. Videocon launched GSM services in March and has around a 0.3 percent share (2 million connections) of the total Indian market, according to Wireless Intelligence. Major operator consolidation in the Indian market is expected in the next 12 to 18 months.