Qualcomm has confirmed reports it plans to bid in India’s upcoming auction for broadband wireless access (BWA) spectrum in the 2.3 GHz band. If successful, the vendor plans to use the spectrum for deployment of TD-LTE technology, a move that appears to be an attempt to derail the mobile WiMAX community (the technology normally associated with the spectrum). Dow Jones Newswires notes that India plans to auction two slots of radio bandwidth for broadband wireless technology, with the base price for one pan-India slot set at INR17.5 billion. The auction is scheduled to start two days after the close of a separate auction for 3G services, which begins April 9. March 19 is the deadline for submitting applications for both the 3G and BWA auctions. “Qualcomm and its partners will decide the venture’s strategy in due course,” it noted in a statement. “Qualcomm’s goal is to attract an operator partner or partners into the venture at the appropriate time for construction of a TD-LTE network in compliance with the Indian Government’s rollout requirement for the BWA spectrum and then to exit the venture.”

TD-LTE (also known as LTE TDD) is suitable for deployment in unpaired spectrum bands and is being heavily pushed by China Mobile, the world’s largest operator by subscribers. Although the majority of the world’s mobile operators will deploy LTE in paired bands (FDD), a recent report from Ventura claims LTE TDD will deliver end user data rates that are at least comparable to LTE FDD in similar bands. “LTE TDD will become the unpaired band commercial technology of choice within the foreseeable future,” the report stated, adding that LTE-TDD devices and networks will be commercially mature within 18-24 months. View the report here.