Bharti to buy 49 per cent in Qualcomm India broadband venture

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Bharti Airtel, India's biggest mobile phone carrier, said on Thursday it had signed a pact to buy a 49 per cent stake in Qualcomm Inc's fourth-generation (4G) broadband venture in the country for $165 million.

Bharti will buy a 26 per cent stake held by two Indian partners in the Qualcomm broadband venture and the remaining by subscribing to fresh equity, the company said in statement, sending its shares up as much 6.9 per cent.

Qualcomm, which spent nearly $1 billion to buy 4G airwaves in a 2010 auction, had sold a total 26 per cent stake to Global Holding Corp and Tulip Telecom for about $58 million to comply with the sector's foreign holding rules.