Bharti Airtel, India’s largest integrated telecom services provider is likely to buy Qualcomm Inc.'s (QCOM) India’s yet-to-be-launched broadband wireless licenses for about $1.2-1.3 billion, with a premium of 25-30%. The US-based chip maker is set to be in discussions with the country's largest telecom operator to sell its BWA licences in all four circles.
The U.S. mobile phone chip maker in 2010 had won licenses and bandwidth to offer wireless broadband in four service areas of Delhi, Mumbai, Kerala and Haryana at a cost of more than $1.05 billion in a government-run auction.
The deal, if it goes through, will give Bharti BWA spectrum in eight circles. At present, it has BWA licences for Maharashtra, Karnataka, Kolkata and Punjab. It plans to start 4G services by the end of this year, a few months after the launch of 3G services.
The deal will also help Bharti compete with Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries, which has bought a pan-India BWA licence from HFCL. Reliance and Bharti are both expected to launch 4G services around the same time.
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