Quinn Li, VP & Global Head, Qualcomm Ventures. Photo credit: Diarmuid Greene/Collision via Sportsfile, under Creative Commons license

Not long after Intel, the famed chipmaker, bought into Indian telecom firm Reliance Jio, one of its major competitors, Qualcomm, has done the same, with a $97 million investment that gives it a 0.15% stake in Reliance Jio. The investment is strategic and’ll deepen already established ties between Reliance Jio, India’s biggest telecom network, and Qualcomm, a maker of wireless technology equipment and notably a forerunner in the race to the adoption of 5G networks.

Qualcomm’s investment cements the amount raised by Reliance Jio since April of this year to nearly $16 billion. Reliance Jio has attracted funding from a diverse number of firms, including social media giant Facebook, sovereign wealth fund Mubadala, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), and American private equity firms Vista Equity Partners, TPG Capital, L Catterton, and KKR. Out of all investments, the biggest share came from Facebook, which chipped in a sizeable $5.7 billion for a roughly 10% stake as of the time of its investment.