Qualcomm is being handed a lifeline in its scramble to secure Indian 4G spectrum it paid $1 billion (€739 million) to acquire.
The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has ordered India’s Department of Telecom (DoT) not to reallocate the disputed 20MHz of spectrum or forfeit Qulacomm's payment until an appeal is heard, Business Standard reports.
Last week the telecom ministry formally rejected Qualcomm's application for the licenses to the spectrum it paid 49.13 billion rupees (€740 million) for in BWA auctions last year. Qualcomm plans to use the spectrum to help foster TD-LTE development.
The DoT claims Qualcomm was late submitting its application, and that it had applied for the licenses through multiple nominee companies, instead of only one as had been allegedly stipulated.
But Qualcomm has appealed to TDSAT, denying that it was late submitting the application and reiterating an offer to merge its four nominees into one entity to address the second issue.
GSM operator group COAI is in Qualcomm's corner, and has submitted arguments against refusing to allocate the licenses to the telecom ministry.