::::4G services: Bharti Airtel to acquire 49% stake in Qualcomm::::

<img src=&quot;http://www.techgig.com/files/photo_1337886579_temp.jpg.pagespeed.ce.9bizkm3RG3.jpg&quot; border=&quot;0&quot; alt=&quot;Image&quot; align=&quot;left&quot; />&nbsp;<span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Sunil Mittal led&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Bharti Airtel</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;on Thursday announced that it will acquire 49 per cent stake in Qualcomm's Inc's fourth-generation (4G) broadband venture in the country for $165 million.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Bharti Airtel will buy a 26 per cent stake held by two Indian partners in the&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Qualcomm</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>broadband venture and the remaining by subscribing to fresh equity, the company said in statement.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>The company plans to take full control of the</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>BWA entities</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;by 2014. Qualcomm expects to provide technical assistance to Bharti in connection with network architecture and optimization, infrastructure and device testing, as well as continuing to develop and support the underlying technology and the&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>LTE</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;TDD ecosystem.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>The deal will give Bharti access to four telecoms zones, including the lucrative Delhi and Mumbai cities, where it does not have its own 4G airwaves.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Bharti, which won&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>4G airwaves</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;in just four of 22 telecom zones - Kolkata, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra, has said it would like to have a nationwide&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>4G broadband</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;network. The company recently launched commercial 4G networks in Kolkata and Bangalore cities.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Shares of Bharti Airtel provisionally closed at Rs 297.75, up 5.6 percent on the Bombay stock Exchange. It hit an intraday high of Rs 301.50 and a low of Rs 281.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Commenting on the partnership Sunil Mittal, Chairman Bharti Airtel said, &quot;We are delighted to partner with Qualcomm, who shares our commitment to the government's agenda of broadband for all.&quot;&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&quot;One of our key objectives has been to include a strong partner in the Indian venture with the scale, experience and resources to deploy LTE TDD networks. We are pleased to have Bharti's participation and support in this effort,&quot; said Dr Paul E Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Qualcomm, which was embroiled in a dispute with the telecoms ministry, was granted the 4G airwaves this month, nearly two years after it won them in the auction. The ministry cut the usage period of the airwaves by 18 months.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Qualcomm, which spent nearly $1 billion to buy 4G radio airwaves in a 2010 Indian state auction, had sold a total 26 percent stake to Indian companies Global Holding Corp and&nbsp;</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Tulip Telecom</span><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>&nbsp;for about $58 million to comply with the sector's foreign holding rules.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>The venture's equity value was about $223 million and enterprise value, which includes debt, was more than $1 billion in 2010 when it entered into the stake sale agreements with the two Indian companies.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Qualcomm, which is pushing for the deployment of LTE (long-term evolution) broadband technology in India, has previously said it is looking at one or more operator partners in the India broadband venture.&nbsp;</span><br /><br /><span style=&quot;text-align: left&quot;>Reliance Industries, controlled by India's richest man Mukesh Ambani, is the only company to have 4G airwaves in all 22 telecoms zones in India. Reliance is yet to start commercial services.</span>

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