Qualcomm has reportedly joined forces with Indian network services and infrastructure provider GTL as part of its plan to roll-out next-generation TD-LTE services in the country. According to India’s Economic Times, the US mobile chip giant has created a joint-venture with GTL in which it will own a 74 percent stake, the largest shareholding allowed under Indian foreign ownership laws. A source said that GTL will invest around INR400 crore (US$90 million) for a 24 percent holding and will have its nominees on the board, while Tulip Telecom, a firm that offers data services and IT solutions, is likely to take the remaining 2 percent stake. However, the deal is understood to be dependent on Qualcomm winning so-called Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) spectrum in the Indian auctions due to start this month. The JV is expected to invest about a billion dollars in spectrum, while a similar amount will be earmarked for network rollout. “The venture will take on debt for these investments,” said a second source.

Neither Qualcomm nor GTL were prepared to comment on the story. However, Qualcomm noted in a statement last month that its goal was 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.” While GTL is not a traditional mobile operator, Economic Times notes that it will be able to offer Qualcomm its 50,000 towers to enable the US firm to roll-out a BWA network. Meanwhile, Tulip is expected to utilise the BWA spectrum for providing last mile connectivity to retail and enterprise customers via the JV. TD-LTE (also known as LTE TDD) is suitable for deployment in unpaired spectrum bands and Qualcomm’s deployment of the technology in India is being seen as an attempt to derail the mobile WiMAX community (the technology normally associated with India’s BWA spectrum).