The announcement was made during trading session today, 24 May 2012.

Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 274.20 points, or 1.72%, to 16,222.30.

On BSE, 3.61 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against an average daily volume of 3.01 lakh shares in the past one quarter.

The stock hit a high of Rs 301.50 and a low of Rs 281 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 444.70 on 1 August 2011. The stock had hit a 52-week low of Rs 280.10 on Wednesday, 23 May 2012.

The stock had underperformed the market over the past one month until 23 May 2012, falling 9.82% compared with the Sensex's 6.72% fall. The scrip had also underperformed the market in past one quarter, sliding 16.67% as against 11.78% fall in the Sensex.

The large-cap company has an equity capital of Rs 1898.76 crore. Face value per share is Rs 5.

Bharti Airtel said that under the agreement, Bharti has made an initial investment of approximately $165 million to acquire 49% interest in Qualcomm AP's India entities that hold broadband wireless access (BWA) licenses in Delhi, Mumbai, Haryana and Kerala - partly by way of acquisition of 26% equity interest equally held by Global Holding Corporation Private and Tulip Telecom, and the balance by way of subscription of fresh equity in those entities.

The agreement contemplates that once commercial operations are launched, subject to certain terms and conditions, Bharti would assume complete ownership and financial responsibility for the BWA entities by the end of 2014.

Bharti said it already has BWA licenses in four circles - Kolkata, Karnataka, Punjab and Maharashtra - and 3G licenses in thirteen circles in India. With this agreement, Bharti has secured a nation-wide broadband leadership through a combination of 4G and 3G, with its own networks in 18 circles. Bharti has already taken the lead in LTE TDD space by launching 4G services in Kolkata and Karnataka Circles.

Commenting on the partnership Mr. Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman and Managing Director, Bharti Airtel said, “We are delighted to partner with Qualcomm, who shares our commitment to the Government's agenda of broadband for all. This partnership will combine the strength of Bharti's national telecom footprint and Qualcomm's technological leadership in the LTE TDD space. With a broadband ready network across India, Bharti is well positioned to lead the next phase of Indian's telecom revolution.”

“One of our key objectives has been to include a strong partner in the Indian venture with the scale, experience and resources to deploy LTE TDD networks. We are pleased to have Bharti's participation and support in this effort,” said Dr Paul E Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm. GHC and Tulip have been great partners in facilitating this transaction. Qualcomm remains dedicated to the continued progress and success of the BWA venture and to fulfilling our commitment as a key equity stakeholder.”

Qualcomm expects to provide technical assistance to Bharti in connection with network architecture and optimization, infrastructure and device testing, as well as continuing to develop and support the underlying technology and the LTE TDD ecosystem, Bharti Airtel said in a statement.

On a consolidated basis and International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), Bharti Airtel's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) rose 14% to Rs 6232.9 crore in Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011. Total revenues rose 15% to Rs 18729.4 crore in Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011. Net income slipped 28% to Rs 1005.9 crore in Q4 March 2012 over Q4 March 2011.

Bharti Airtel is a leading integrated telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa. Headquartered in New Delhi, India, the company ranks amongst the top 5 mobile service providers globally in terms of subscribers. In India, the company's product offerings include 2G, 3G and 4G services, fixed line, high speed broadband through DSL, IPTV, DTH, enterprise services including national & international long distance services to carriers. In the rest of the geographies, it offers 2G, 3G mobile services. Bharti Airtel had over 253 million customers across its operations at the end of April 2012.