Qualcomm has won a breather in its scramble to secure the Indian 4G spectrum it paid $1 billion to acquire.
The Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) has ordered the DoT not to reallocate the 20-MHz of spectrum under dispute or forfeit Qulacomm's payment until an appeal is heard, Business Standardreported.
The telecom ministry last week formally rejected Qualcomm's application for the licenses to the spectrum it paid 49.13 billion rupees ($999.4 million) for in last year's BWA auctions. Qualcomm plans to use the spectrum to help foster TD-LTE development.
The ministry claimed Qualcomm had been late submitting its application, and that it had applied for the licenses through multiple nominee companies, instead of only one as had been allegedly stipulated.
But Qualcomm has appealed to TDSAT, denying the charge that it was late submitting the application. The chipmaker also maintains that it can merge its four nominees into one entity to address the second issue.
GSM operator group COAI is in Qualcomm's corner, having submitted to the telecom ministry arguments against refusing to allocate the license.