Net permit for Qualcomm

The government has allowed Qualcomm to offer wireless broadband services after rejecting an earlier proposal of the US chip maker.

Telecom secretary R. Chandrashekhar today said the government would grant an Internet service licence. Though Qualcomm had won spectrum to offer the service, it did not have the licence.

Qualcomm last year paid about $1 billion for wireless spectrum for four of India’s 22 telecom circles. The company needs to get an Internet service provider licence (ISP) to launch broadband.

The telecom ministry had rejected Qualcomm’s earlier application, saying that it had missed the submission deadline. The ministry had also said that Qualcomm applied for four separate licences, whereas it should have applied for one.

“A decision has already been taken on their application for an ISP licence for one subsidiary that has been designated as a nominee,” Chandrashekhar said.

The department of telecom (DoT) has asked the company to submit a bank guarantee and a non-conditional acceptance of the offer.

Qualcomm won broadband spectrum in the Mumbai, Delhi, Kerala and Haryana circles on June 12, 2010, paying more than Rs 4,900 crore.

The company then floated four firms with local partners for each the service areas and approached the DoT for licences in each circle. However, the DoT said the licence would be given to a single Qualcomm unit that would be the nominee for all the four zones.

In September, when the DoT rejected its applications, Qualcomm offered a compromise formula of merging all its four ventures into one and taking only one licence.

Separately, the company filed an appeal with the telecom tribunal. On September 28, the Telecom Dispute Settlement Appellate Tribunal passed an interim order, restraining the DoT from allotting the BWA spectrum earmarked for Qualcomm to any other operator.

The TDSAT also stopped the government from forfeiting the bid amount of Rs 4,900 crore paid by Qualcomm. The DoT has been asked to file a reply to Qualcomm’s plea within two weeks.

The company had previously said it fully complied with the application process and would work with the authorities to resolve the matter.

Last year, it sold a 26 per cent stake in its India broadband venture to Global Holdings and Tulip Telecom to comply with Indian rules, which allow a maximum 74 per cent foreign holding in local telecom companies.

Other firms that have broadband spectrum for select circles are Bharti Airtel, Aircel and privately held Augere and Tikona. Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries owned-Infotel has wireless broadband spectrum for all the 22 circles of the country.