Augere Wireless, a company backed by France Telecom and private equity funds, is set to sell its 4G spectrum in two states and quit India, as regulatory uncertainty has forced its investors to hang up on the country.
Two company executives said Augere was shutting down its India operations and had asked its employees in the country to resign.
Augere is the second 4G spectrum holder that is close to exiting the wireless broadband space. US-based chipmaker Qualcomm is learnt to be in advanced talks with Bharti Airtel to sell its 4G permits in the four circles where it bagged airwaves in 2010.
The company had won airwaves for Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh in the keenly-contested broadband wireless auctions of 2010 and last year became the first 4G player in India to award an equipment contract when it appointed Ericsson to roll out its network. It had also roped in TCS to handle its IT and customer services requirements and was slated to roll out wireless broadband services in the second half of the current year under the 'ZOOSH Broadband' brand.
Augere Wireless CEO Lars Henrick Stork said the company had stopped all operational activities in India and had asked employees to go on leave as it was reassessing its plans here.
