Chinese Tech Firms Got Huge 4G Contracts

Western telco equipment makers were snubbed when China Mobile chose Huawei and ZTE to upgrade its systems to 4G. Tech firms have been fighting to get over $3.2 billion of contracts with China Telecom, but it seems that the decision was to buy local.

Media reports said that the Chinese companies secured over 50% of the biggest prize in the global telecoms industry in 2013, while foreign entities only won about 1/3. Ericsson and Huawei were hoping that China Mobile’s 4G contract would lift the fortunes of a telcom industry which has been hit by a lack of spending across the globe.

It is known that China Mobile has over 700 million mobile customers and is ranked as the largest in the world by subscriber. In result, Huawei and ZTE have got 25% each of the total 4G procurement in China Mobile’s tender 2013. In the meantime, such European makers as Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent and Nokia Siemens Networks have obtained a share of about 10% each.

In Japan and Korea, for example, 4G investments favored Ericsson and NSN so far, while those in America went largely to Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent. As for Chinese firms, Huawei also won a chunk of Europe’s 4G contracts in 2012. China Mobile is planning to build over 200,000 base stations in 2013 alone.