Telecom Lead India: Bharti Airtel is close to buying
mobile broadband license from Qualcomm India.
Qualcomm is asking Bharti Airtel to pay about Rs 5,000
crore for its Indian unit as the two companies seek to conclude talks in the
next two weeks, Live Mint reported.
Chip maker Qualcomm has licensed airwaves in four
regions – Mumbai, Delhi, Haryana and Kerala, which it bought in broadband
wireless auction of 2010 for Rs 4,900 crore.
Airtel in talks to acquire 4G licenses from Qualcomm
Bharti may purchase the unit in installments over two
years. Under the plan, Bharti would initially purchase a 26 percent stake in
the unit, currently held by Tulip Telecom Ltd and Global Holding and Qualcomm
will own 51 percent of the division for at least two years after that.
Tulip Telecom and Global Holding paid Rs. 140
crore each for their 13 percent stakes in Qualcomm’s Indian unit in 2010.
Qualcomm owns the remaining 74 percent.
Earlier, a news daily reported that Bharti Airtel is
planning to buy 4G licenses from Qualcomm for Rs 6000 crore, which will enable
it to launch 4G services in Delhi and Mumbai.
The deal will be closed by June and will be accompanied
by technology agreements between Qualcomm and Airtel. Airtel currently holds
licences in Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kolkata and Punjab.
Qualcomm was allocated spectrum this month, two years
after paying for the airwaves, people with knowledge of the matter said on 8
May.
The Indian government penalized Qualcomm for delays in
providing fourth- generation mobile services using the long-term evolution, or
LTE, technology, by cutting the length of its licenses by 18 months.
