Telecom service provider, Telenor has announced its decision to hike dividends to 5 Norwegian crowns from 3.8 crowns earlier as it expects its revenues and profitability to rise in the year.

The company said that it expects revenue to grow 5 percent and its profits from core business to rise for 2012. The company’s profitability was below expectations in November and December of 2011 as there was heavy discounting in the region and firms were competing to attract customers to new services.

Telenor had o rethink its business approach in India after the country’s apex court announced its decision to scrap all 122 telecom licences of 2G spectrum, that were allotted under the tenure of a tamed minister who is now facing corruption charges. Telenor held about 22 in the country and now has to take part in an auction to regain those licenses in the country.

This forced the company to take a massive $712 million writedown in India. Telenor had sort help from the Norwegian government to protect its investment in India after the ruling by the apex court in India. The company has said that it will fight to protect lawful investments in India and also said that Norwegian government is aiming to find a solution to the issue.

Telenor, which is controlled by the Norwegian government, has about 140 million subscribers in Europe and Asia.