Bharti Airtel now has spectrum to launch 4G services in four more circles, and more importantly, in the key cities of Mumbai and Delhi, as well as the states of Haryana and Kerala, following the acquisition of 100% stake in Qualcomm's broadband wireless entity in India - Wireless Business Services Private Limited - for an amount that is, as yet, undisclosed. Airtel now is in a position to offer 4G services in Delhi, Haryana, Karnataka, Kerala, Kolkata, Maharashtra, Mumbai and Punjab. However, even with spectrum in four circles prior to this acquisition, Airtel has launched 4G services only in Bangalore, Kolkata, Pune, Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali. In May 2012, Airtel had made an initial investment of approximately $165 million (Rs 927.39 crore approx) to acquire 49% in Qualcomm’s India entities. It bought 2% more a couple of months ago, thus giving it a majority stake. Do check out our coverage of the 4G auction results in 2010, which will give you an indication of who else has 4G spectrum which they are currently doing nothing with. Airtel's 4G services don't appear to be doing particularly well either: the company had to reduce prices, but, apparently capped speeds to 10mbps. Airtel is also the company that capped download speeds for its broadband customers with an unfair "Fair Usage Policy". A timeline of Qualcomm's 4G initiatives in India: June 2010: Qualcomm had won BWA spectrum in four circles including Delhi, Mumbai, Kerala and Haryana for Rs. 4912.54 crore, with Mumbai being the costliest circle for the company at Rs…
