Bharti ups stake in Qualcomm India JV

Telecom major Bharti Airtel on Thursday said it has acquired an additional 2 per cent stake in all the four Indian broadband wireless access (BWA) entities of Qualcomm, thereby making them its subsidiaries.

Bharti did not say how much it paid for the additional 2 per cent stake.

"Bharti Airtel has subscribed to an additional 2 per cent equity share capital in all the four India BWA entities of Qualcomm AP. With this, all four entities are now subsidiaries of Bharti Airtel," the company said in a statement.

With this, India's largest telecommunications carrier has raised its stake to 51 per cent in the wireless broadband venture founded by Qualcomm Inc.

On May 24, 2012, Bharti Airtel and Qualcomm had announced an agreement under which Bharti had acquired 49 per cent interest in Qualcomm AP's India entities with licences to offer 4G data services in four circles of Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala.

Airtel had won spectrum for high-speed broadband service in four telecom services areas of Kolkata, Maharashtra, Punjab and Karnataka in 2010, paying Rs 3,314.36 crore for it.
In addition, the stake purchase in Qualcomm's BWA venture would aid the Sunil Bharti Mittal-led group to offer services in eight circles.

 Shares of Bharti Airtel on Thursday rose by over 2 per cent after the company acquired an additional 2 per cent stake in all four Indian broadband wireless access entities of Qualcomm, thereby making them its subsidiaries.

The telecom major’s scrip ended at Rs 301.25, up 2.38 per cent from its previous close on the BSE. Intra-day, the stock gained 3.1 per cent to Rs 303.40.