After a two-year delay, US-based telco Qualcomm has received BWA spectrum from India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
According to Indian newspaper The Business Standard, the validity of Qualcomm’s spectrum awarded yesterday has been cut…
After a two-year delay, US-based telco Qualcomm has received BWA spectrum from India’s Department of Telecommunications (DoT).
According to Indian newspaper The Business Standard, the validity of Qualcomm’s spectrum awarded yesterday has been cut from 20 to 18.5 years while its rollout obligation has been reduced from five years to three and a half.
The DoT secretary, R Chandrashekhar, was quoted saying that these restrictions are the result of Qualcomm’s delay in filing the application to get spectrum.
Qualcomm, however, reportedly argued that this delay was caused by the ministry’s objection to its application and would therefore consider all options available regarding the DoT’s decision yesterday.
The US company had applied for a BWA licence following a successful bid for spectrum in the circles of Mumbai, Delhi, Kerala and Haryana in June 2010 for US$1bn.
The DoT initially refused to allocate the frequencies on the grounds that Qualcomm was late in filing the application and originally applied for four different licences, which was not allowed according to regulations. Qualcomm later reportedly agreed to merge its four local companies into one.
