Bharti buys out Qualcomm in 4G broadband JV

Telecom major Bharti Airtel Ltd has bought out US chip maker Qualcomm Inc's stake in Wireless Business Services Pvt Ltd (WBSPL), a fourth-generation (4G) broadband joint venture, taking 100 per cent ownership of the business.

Bharti was to increase its stake to 100 per cent by end-2014 as per the joint venture plan, but the exit of Qualcomm has come more than a year earlier.

Neither Bharti Airtel nor Qualcomm disclosed the cost of acquisition of the 49 per cent stake in the venture founded by Qualcomm.

Bharti group had, last year, acquired a 49 per cent stake in the Qualcomm venture for around $165 million. Earlier this year, the company bought an additional 2 per cent in the JV, taking its
holding to 51 per cent.

At that price, the additional stake would cost Airtel another $165 million, which works out to a little over Rs1,000 crore at current exchange rate.

Qualcomm paid nearly $1 billion in a 2010 auction to acquire broadband wireless access (BWA) in four of India's 22 telecommunication circles, namely, Mumbai, Delhi, Haryana and Kerala.

The joint venture, which holds the 4G airwaves that facilitate high-speed wireless internet, however, is yet to start commercial services.

Bharti, which on its own holds 4G radio spectrum in four other telecom circles - Kolkata, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra (excluding Mumbai) - has started services in some cities.

Airtel had bought BWA spectrum in these circles for Rs3,314.36 crore. With Friday's acquisition of Qualcomm's BWA spectrum, Bharti Airtel will now have access to eight circles to launch 4G services.

 Reliance Jio, which has pan-India spectrum, is yet to launch 4G services.