Bharti completes early takeover of former Qualcomm unit

Bharti Airtel has completed its takeover of Qualcomm-founded Wireless Business Services more than a year ahead of schedule, the Economic Times writes. Airtel increased its stake in the company, which holds 4G spectrum in Delhi, Mumbai and Kerala, to 100% without disclosing the financial details of the deal. Airtel recently upped its holding in the venture to 93.45%, revealing its intention to take full control of the company by end-2014. As previously noted by CommsUpdate, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) pointed out earlier this month that Airtel’s acquisition may fall foul of the terms of the 2010 spectrum sale, which required successful bidders that are newcomers to the market to retain a 26% stake in their ventures. However, the rules did not specify whether the holding must be kept until the winner was allocated an internet service provider (ISP) licence or for the tenure of the spectrum.