Qualcomm today revealed it has won BWA licenses in four of India’s telecoms circles, paying a total of $1.04 billion (€858 million) for the slots.
The licenses cover a single 20MHz slot of unpaired spectrum in the circles of Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala, and must still be approved by the Indian government, which Qualcomm expects to happen soon.
Qualcomm says it will announce local partners once that approval is secured.
Kanwalinder Singh, president of Qualcomm India and South Asia, and senior vice-president of Qualcomm, said the main goal for the firm was “to secure an enabling role,” in India’s LTE market.
The other successful bidders were Infotel, which won slots in three circles; Bharti in four circles; Tikona won five circles, and Airtel eight.
Total bids amounted to 12.8 billion crores (€226 million), with the circles of Delhi and Mumbai generating the most, at 2.24 and 2.29 million crores respectively.
One slot in each territory was reserved for state-owned operators BSNL and MTNL, the Economic Times reported.