Chipmaker Qualcomm has sold its UK spectrum rights to Vodafone and CK Hutchison Holdings for $313.8 million.
This is not bad really because the company paid only £8.3 million at auction in 2008 so it certainly got more than its money back.
The deal is subject to approval by communications regulator Ofcom.
Qualcomm in June announced that it was putting a chunk of spectrum up for sale in Britain, which could appeal to mobile operators grappling with demand for Internet access.
The chipmaker said in July it might break itself up as it delivered its third profit warning this year and said it planned to slash jobs and spending in a competitive environment.
When Qualcomm bought the spectrum it was believed to be a way to roll out its MediaFLO, the mobile TV broadcast system, a rival to DVB-H. But the mobile TV standards proved to be dismal failures Qualcomm didn’t have any use for the substantial chunk of spectrum.
