Qualcomm is reportedly in talks with network services provider India's GTL Infrastructure to form a joint venture that would see the two build a TD-LTE network in India--if Qualcomm wins spectrum in the coming auctions, according to the Economic Times, which cited people familiar with the discussions.
"Qualcomm will own a 74 percent stake in the JV through a holding company in Asia, while Indian promoters will hold the remaining 26 percent," the report cited a source as saying.
The person also indicated GTL will invest about $90 million for 24 percent in the JV while Tulip Telecom is also likely to take a 2 percent stake, the report indicated.
Qualcomm is aiming to get its hands on licenses for spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band, which is supposed to be a coup for WiMAX--a TDD technology. The Indian government has set April 9 as the auction date for 3G spectrum and April 11 as the date for the BWA auction, when it will sell spectrum licenses for LTE and WiMAX services. The government plans to auction two 20 MHz unpaired blocks of spectrum in each of the country's 22 service areas. Qualcomm plans to bid for one of the slots. The base price for a pan-India spectrum slot is set at $386 million. Under auction rules, Qualcomm must partner with an Indian operator in a joint venture.
For more:
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