Norwegian telecom group Telenor will cut its stake in Malaysian mobile operator Digi.Com Bhd to 49 percent from 61 percent by the end of the year, a top minister said Monday.

"They are committed to draw down their stake to 49 percent by the end of this year," Lim Keng Yaik, energy, water and communications minister told reporters.

Lim had earlier met with top executives of Telenor to secure the confirmation. Telenor was allowed to raise its stake in DiGi.com to 61 percent in 2001.

It was required to pare down its stake at the end of last year but the government gave a year's extension which expires at the end of 2007.

Telenor holds a controlling stake in 13 mobile operators in Europe and Asia.

Besides Digi, it owns a 73.2 percent stake in Total Access Communications PCL in Thailand, a 62 percent stake in Grameenphone (Bangladesh) and owns Telenor Pakistan.

DiGi has a subscriber base of 5.8 million as at March 31 this year.