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As part of its plan to roll-out TD-LTE services in India, Qualcomm has reportedly joined forces with network services and infrastructure provider GTL. According to India’s Economic Times, the mobile chip giant has created a joint-venture with GTL in which it will own a 74% stake, which BTW is the largest shareholding allowed under Indian foreign ownership laws.
A source said that GTL will invest around INR400 ($90 million) for a 24% holding, whereas Tulip Telecom (offers data services and IT solutions) will take the remaining 2%.
The deal is understood to be dependent on Qualcomm winning BWA (Broadband Wireless Access) auction due to start this month.
In total, the JV is expected to invest about a billion dollars in spectrum, and a similar amount in the network rollout.
As expected, neither Qualcomm nor GTL wanted to comment on the story. We do, however, know Qualcomm said it plans to engage partners in its TD-LTE network build out.
We’ll keep our eyes on the ever vibrant Indian mobile market and keep you posted whenever something interesting happens. Stay tuned…
[Via: MobileBusinessBriefing]
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
