New Delhi, Aug. 26: Bharti Airtel, the country's top telecom operator, has acquired Augere Wireless Broadband India to ramp up its high-speed 4G broadband network ahead of Reliance Jio's launch.

"Upon acquisition, Augere will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Airtel. The acquisition is subject to necessary statutory and regulatory approvals," the company said in a statement.

Augere Wireless, owned by France Telecom and a clutch of private equity funds such as Harbinger Capital and New Silk Route, had won a block of 20MHz of 4G spectrum (in the 2,300MHz band) in the Madhya Pradesh-Chhattisgarh circle for Rs 122.46 crore in the 2010 auctions.

The company had initially announced plans to roll out 4G services in late 2011 but decided against the launch citing uncertain regulatory conditions.

While Airtel did not disclose the size of the deal, sources valued it at around Rs 150 crore. For Airtel, the buyout would ensure a larger 4G footprint along with its 3G network, enabling the New Delhi-based mobile operator to become a strong player as a high-speed data provider.

At present, Airtel holds 4G airwaves in the 2300MHz band in eight of the 22 circles across the country. It had purchased airwaves in four circles in the 2010 auctions and later acquired San-Diego-based Qualcomm's airwaves in another four circles, including Delhi and Mumbai.

Earlier this month, Airtel became the first Indian operator to launch 4G mobile technology in 296 towns across 14 circles, combining spectrum in the 2300MHz and 1800Mhz bands. It had launched the first 4G network in Calcutta in April 2012.

Rivals Reliance Jio, Idea Cellular, Vodafone India and Reliance Communications have also announced launch plans for their respective 4G services - either later this year or early next year.

Augere, established in September 2007, launched broadband services under the Qubee brand in Pakistan in July 2009. This was closely followed by the launch in Bangladesh in October 2009.

Analysts said the next phase of growth for operators would come from mobile data, which was increasingly replacing voice as the main growth driver.

This makes acquisition of both 4G and 3G spectrum critical for mobile service providers.