| | SEPTEMBER 20248AIRTEL SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETES TESTING ON MID-BAND SPECTRUM INFRASTRUCTURESoftBank-backed Of Business, an Indian platform supplying raw materials to businesses, is planning a stock market debut in India with a potential value of up to $1 billion, a top executive shared with Reuters on Tuesday.The company is in discussions with Bank of America, Citi, JP Morgan, and Morgan Stanley to manage the offering, with plans to go public in the latter half of 2025, according to Bhavesh Keswani, the Chief Financial Officer.The IPO is expected to raise between $750 million and $1 billion, including $200 million in new shares, while the remaining shares will be sold by existing investors to new ones, Keswani explained."The IPO proceeds will be directed toward debt reduction and business expansion," Keswani stated, marking the first time the company has publicly commented on its IPO plans.The four banks did not respond to Reuters' request for comments. SoftBank Group and Tiger Global collectively own about 15 percent, while Alpha Wave Global holds an 18 percent stake in the company.According to a senior industry source, OfBusiness, an Indian platform is targeting a valuation between $6 billion and $9 billion, though Keswani declined to confirm the figures. Founded in 2015 by husband-and-wife team Asish Mohapatra and Ruchi Kalra, OfBusiness has raised over $800 million from investors, with its last funding round in 2021 valuing the company at around $5 billion. A irtel, MediaTek and Nokia has announced the successful completion of trials that efficiently combine TDD and FDD mid-band spectrum on a time basis utilising the latest generation chipset. The trial aimed at maximising the uplink performance was conducted at Airtel's tech lab and achieved uplink speeds of 300 Mbps.The trial enhanced UL speeds by aggregating frequency bands of 3.5 Ghz (n78) and 2.1 Ghz (n1).The innovative UL Tx switching promises faster connectivity, enhanced user experience, and improved network efficiency, catering to high-demand use cases such as video conferencing, live streaming and large file uploads.Randeep Sekhon, Chief Technology Officer, Bharti Airtel said, "At Airtel, continuous innovation remains the bedrock of all our product and service offerings. This trial not only stands testament to our philosophy of enhancing our state-of-the-art network infrastructure and delivering an unmatched 5G user experience but will also greatly enhance our network's uplink performance, resulting in faster data speeds and improved connectivity."Dr. Ho-Chi Hwang, General Manager of Wireless Communication Systems and Partnerships at MediaTek, said: "We are thrilled to collaborate with Bharti Airtel and Nokia on this groundbreaking trial in India where our Dimensity 5G mobile platform played a crucial role in achieving the highest uplink speeds on Airtel's 5G network. This partnership underscores our commitment to delivering cutting-edge technology that enhances the connectivity experience for users. IN FOCUSSOFTBANK BACKS OF BUSINESS IN ITS IPO VENTURE
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