Bharti acquires 49 per cent share of Qualcomm’s India unit at cut-price
India’s Bharti Airtel has signed an agreement with chipmaker Qualcomm to acquire 49 per cent of its Indian BWA entities. Qualcomm acquired the wireless broadband service permits in India for four states in the country in 2010 for $1bn. The purchase was made in a deliberate bid to block the progress of WiMAX as an alternative 4G technology in the country, Qualcomm CEO Paul Jacobs said at the time. Now, it has sold the 49 per cent stake to Bharti for a mere $165m.