Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Uninor opens a record 367 Exclusive Stores in one day

Uninor opens a record 367 Exclusive Stores in one day
After announcing a massive 30% expansion in its network sites and launching the most affordable 'internet for all' services, Uninor today conducted its largest ever retail expansion since launch. In one day, 367 new exclusive Uninor retail stores opened up for business in the six circles of UP West, UP East, Bihar (including Jharkhand), Maharashtra and Goa, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat where the company offers its sabsesasta voice and internet for all services. This is a  30% expansion of the exclusive retail footprint that takes Uninor to 1480 exclusive stores – the second largest among all operators in these six circles.

Of these, 39 new stores were launched in the circle of Andhra Pradesh. This is the largest number of stores opened by any mobile operator in a single day and takes Uninor to over 181 exclusive stores in Andhra Pradesh.

“SabseSasta Uninor services for both in voice and Internet are now available at 350,000 retail points across six circles and 53,146  inAndhra Pradesh. Infact, Uninor now has the second largest number of retail shops among all operators in (circle name). This means that it has never been easier for those who are worried about their mobile tariffs to move to Uninor for its 25 paisa per minute voice calls or the Rs. 1 per day unlimited Facebook and Whatsapp,” said Satish Kannan, Uninor’s Circle Business Head for Andhra Pradesh.

“We declared early on this year that 2014 will be about investments, expansion and growth for Uninor. We started this with the addition of a record 5000 new network sites and follow that up today with our largest ever retail expansion,” said Morten KarlsenSorby, nominated CEO of Uninor. “Every day we get closer still to our customers. We have the network, the retail footprint and the product portfolio of sabsesasta voice, sms and internet for all – to truly serve the segment we have chosen – the mass market,” he added.

Uninor recently announced the launch of its entirely new internet strategy– moving from MB and KB pricing to unlimited sabsesasta tariffs for services like Facebook and Whatsapp. With the network expansion earlier and retail expansion now, the company expects a significant increase in its customer base that includes doubling of its active internet users within this year.

“Together with being the best in basic services and low cost operations, being best in mass market distribution are the three pillars that define Uninor’s strategy in India. We take a big leap forward on retail today,” said Rajeev Sethi, Chief Marketing Officer of Uninor. “It is the mass market customer who often requires greater engagement with the operator– to be able to walk into a store in the neighbourhood and get the information and assistance needed. This is what these stores will do– within walking distance of our subscribers,” he added.

All Uninor Exclusive Stores will be full service outlets that will offer all services including new connections, recharges, on-the-spot query resolution and complete assistance to all subscribers. The stores will be staffed by trained customer service personnel and equipped with the fully automated IT solutions that will help in spot resolution of all queries and conduct all service requests.
About Uninor
Uninor is majority owned subsidiary of Telenor Group – one of the major mobile operators with headquarters in Oslo, Norway.  Uninor’s pre-paid GSM services are commercially available in the six circles of UP (West), UP (East), Bihar (including Jharkhand), Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Gujarat. Together, these circles account for more than 50% of India’s population giving Uninor the ability to serve every second person in India.

Uninor will be rolling out services in the seventh circle of Assam shortly.

Uninor's three-pillar strategy of being the best in basic services, mass market distribution and low cost operations has helped the company achieve EBIDTA and OCF breakeven in all the 6 operational circles within 4 years of launching services. By focusing on affordable tariffs, Uninor empowers its 32 million subscribers to enjoy the benefits of mobile telephony through its simple proposition of – ‘Sabsesasta’ (lowest) tariffs for all basic services. For more information, please visit www.uninor.in
About Telenor
Telenor Group is an international provider of tele, data and media communication services. Telenor Group has mobile operations in 13 markets in the Nordic region, Central and Eastern Europe and in Asia, as well as a voting stake of 42.95 per cent (economic stake 33 per cent) in VimpelCom Ltd., operating in 17 markets. Headquartered in Norway, Telenor Group is one of the world’s major mobile operators with 166 million mobile subscriptions, revenues in 2013 of NOK 104 billion, and a workforce of over 33,000.