Qualcomm wants a piece of the ever growing Indian mobile market. But it don’t want to participate in the upcoming 3G spectrum auction — rather it wants to skip that step and bid for BWA radio spectrum that could be used for WiMAX and LTE services.
BWA auctions are set to begin two weeks after bidding for 3G spectrum ends.
According to the Hindu Business Line newspaper, the American company has already approached a number of local operators, exploring the possibility of forming a consortium for the bidding. One, sadly unnamed, operator confirmed that a high-level team from Qualcomm is in Mumbai to work out a strategy.
Unsurprisingly, Qualcomm declined to comment on the news report.
We’re not sure what Qualcomm’s plans are but we do know they recently sold their Australia’s radio spectrum, which they’ve never put to use. However, it’s important to note that Australia and India are two very different markets — the former is super developed and even over-served, whereas the latter is still emerging and growing like crazy.
We’ll certainly keep watching for any interesting news coming out from India and keep you guys and gals in the loop. Stay tuned…
[Via: CellularNews]