US 5G Giant Qualcomm to invest $97 million in Reliance Jio, 13th Deal 12 Weeks
Steve Mollenkopf, chief executive of Qualcomm, said the firm believes that Reliance Jio Platforms, which has disrupted the Indian telecommunications market by offering cut-rate voice and data plans, “will deliver a new set of services and experiences to Indian consumers” in the future.
“With unmatched speeds and emerging use cases, 5G is expected to transform every industry in the coming years. Jio Platforms has led the digital revolution in India through its extensive digital and technological capabilities. As an enabler and investor with a longstanding presence in India, we look forward to playing a role in Jio’s vision to further revolutionize India’s digital economy,” he said.
Facebook led the investments in Jio by buying a 9.99 percent stake for Rs 43,574 crore on April 22. The oil-to-telecom conglomerate has since sold stakes in Jio to global investors such as General Atlantic, KKR, Saudi sovereign wealth fund, Abu Dhabi state fund, Saudi Arabia’s PIF and Intel.
Qualcomm has invested in Jio through its investment arm Qualcomm Ventures. The investment comes at an equity valuation of Rs 4.91 lakh crore and enterprise valuation of Rs 5.16 lakh crore.
Qualcomm is a San Diego, California, headquartered wireless technology company that specialises in 3G, 4G and 5G wireless technologies. Qualcomm’s technologies and products are widely used in mobile devices and other wireless products.
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon systems on a chip (SoC) is used by many leading smartphones. The company’s technologies and products are also used in automotive, computing and IoT. Globally Qualcomm holds a large number of patents and the company also files the most number of patents in India.
