Qualcomm has reportedly begun planned talks with “leading Indian mobile phone operators” for the sale of its Indian TD-LTE business for a minimum of INR50 billion (US$1.1 billion).
India’s Economic Times notes that the successful buyers of the broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum will have to guarantee that the airwaves are used for TD-LTE technology rather than rival WiMAX technology.
The Indian market is seen as the last significant opportunity for WiMAX.
In June, Qualcomm announced that it had won one slot of 20 MHz TDD BWA spectrum in the 2.3GHz band covering the key telecom circles of Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala. The company spent more than US$1 billion on the airwaves.
Service launch is expected next year. Last July Qualcomm sold a 26 percent stake in the venture to local firms Global Holdings and Tulip Telecom for a reported US$58 million. Qualcomm currently owns 74 percent of the broadband unit.
Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) made a dramatic return to the telecommunications sector by buying Infotel Broadband, the sole winner of pan-India broadband airwaves. Infotel won 22 circles.
In addition to Reliance and Qualcomm, the auction also saw Bharti Airtel win broadband frequencies in four circles, Tikona Digital Networks in five, Aircel in eight geographies and Augere in one circle. Most have yet to commit to either LTE or WiMAX on the 2.3 (unpaired) broadband spectrum.
However, some observers believe mobile carriers would prefer the LTE approach in unpaired spectrum since it would likely be more sympatico with their Long Term Evolution flavor in the (paired) 4G cellular bands.
India’s top mobile firm, Bharti Airtel, No. 2 Reliance Communications, Vodafone, Tata Teleservices, and Idea Cellular spent a combined $23 billion for licenses in recent 3G and 4G spectrum auctions (auction results) in the world’s fastest-growing cellular market.
Reliance Industries, controlled by Mukesh Ambani, the fourth richest man in the world, returned to the telecom business with the $1 billion acquisition of Infotel Broadband, the only company to win a nationwide license for broadband wireless spectrum. Reliance plans to invest about $5 billion in the venture over the next two years.
Qualcomm won 2.3GHz spectrum (20 MHz) in four telecom circles of India in the recently held BWA spectrum auctions and plans to go with TD-LTE. Samsung, Hauwei and ZTE are trying to convince Infotel that immediate WiMAX deployment, with a similar timeline as 3G, makes more sense.
TD-LTE gained credence once China Mobile, the world’s largest wireless operator, said it planned to deploy TD-LTE across its network. China currently has over 720 million mobile cellular subscribers, more than twice as many as the United States.
Related Dailywireless articles include; India’s Broadband Auction: It’s Done, Qualcomm Gets Indian Partners, Vendors Scramble for Indian Backhaul, Yota: Planetary LTE Swap, Yota Dumps WiMAX, Clear: No Limits, WiMAX Forum: Not Dead Yet, WiMAX Forum: In Trouble?, Sprint’s WiMAX Phone Launched, SK Telecom Buys 25% of Packet One, Compare “4G” Carriers in the U.S., LTE for Sprint? and MIMO: The Paper War.
