Ericsson wins 5G RAN contracts in China

Swedish telecoms vendor Ericsson has been awarded a 3 percent in China Telecom and China Unicom’s joint 5G ran operations, beating out Finnish rival Nokia’s contribution, Reuters reported citing inside sources.  

Nokia had initially been tapped as the favorite to leverage Ericsson’s market share in mainland China due to complications between the Swedish vendor and Chinese telecom companies; but the former did not receive any share, according to a tender document published by the Chinese companies. 

In parallel, Sweden had banned two Chinese telcos namely, Huawei and ZTE, from participating in the country’s upcoming 5G networks, earlier last year.  

The state’s decision affected Ericsson’s performance, as the company won in July a mere 2 percent share for China Mobile and China Broadcasting Network’s 5G radio tender. 

A percentage which shrunk from 11 percent during 2020. 

In a statement provided to FierceWireless, Nokia highlighted that they “are aware of the results of the China Telecom and China Unicom joint 5G project tender.” 

“We will continue to invest in our products and are ready to help our Chinese customers realize their 5G ambitions,” the Finnish company added. 

Official information of the contract between the companies remains undisclosed, even in terms of shared percentages.  

However, many pundits argue that a high number of the shares up for grab will go to local telecom vendors such as Huawei, ZTE, and state-owned Datang Telecom.