Indian cellcos Bharti Airtel and Aircel are considering buying Qualcomm’s Indian wireless broadband business, according to industry executives cited by the Economic Times.
Yesterday it was reported that the US-based mobile chip maker was looking to sell…
Indian cellcos Bharti Airtel and Aircel are considering buying Qualcomm’s Indian wireless broadband business, according to industry executives cited by the Economic Times.
Yesterday it was reported that the US-based mobile chip maker was looking to sell its Indian wireless broadband business for about Rs50bn (US$1.1bn). The company approached several large Indian mobile phone operators to sell the licences in four of the country’s circles it acquired in June for about US$1bn.
Airtel is reportedly mainly interested in Qualcomm’s airwaves and permits for Delhi while Aircel, majority-owned by Malaysia’s Maxis Communications, is looking to acquire the licences in the Mumbai and Kerala circles.
According to the Economic Times, Qualcomm told potential buyers that they would have to use the spectrum in question only to offer Long Term Evolution-based (LTE) services.
Back in July, Tulip Telecom and Global Group, both of India, announced an alliance with Qualcomm to roll out wireless broadband in India. The US company set up the venture in which it offered a stake of up to 26% to the local partners. At the time, it had already planned to exit the venture after rolling out the network.
In a statement to TelecomFinance, Qualcomm wrote that the company “has publicly stated that it will work with 3G operators to develop the 3G+LTE ecosystem, commercially deploy LTE TDD in the BWA spectrum, and then to exit its India LTE venture. Consistent with those goals, discussions with operators on LTE TDD commercialization and on commercial discussions related to Qualcomm’s BWA spectrum are indeed ongoing.”
Tata Communications and Reliance Communications may also be interested in the business, according to the newspaper.
