Qualcomm wants DoT to expedite BWA license grant

US telecom major Qualcomm forked out USD 1 billion to win Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) licenses last year in Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala. The company now wants the Department of Telecommunication (DoT) to expeditiously issue it the BWA license, reports CNBC-TV18 Malvika Jain quoting sources.

The DoT has pulled up Qualcomm for some procedural mistakes while applying for a BWA license. However, Qualcomm told CNBC-TV18 that this is one of its biggest investments outside the US and since has fulfilled all the requirements, followed all the procedures and rules, the license should be issued to it immediately. The company has also agreed to the DoT's interpretation of procedures in a bid to expedite the process of license issuance. On the other hand, the department is agreeing to issue only one license for all the circles instead of four separate licenses, which Qualcomm had applied for. Sources say that the department has not issued any notice to Qualcomm for cancellation of its licenses and this issue is likely to get resolved within a month. The department feels that there has been some confusion with regards to the procedures because the BWA licenses are being issued in India for the first time. Also watch the accompanying video.