Huawei Bags Another Euro LTE Gig

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. further cemented its reputation as a leading player in the next-generation mobile infrastructure market by landing another LTE (Long Term Evolution) trial in the Nordics, right on the front door of key wireless networking rivals Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC) and Nokia Networks .

Norwegian incumbent Telenor Group (Nasdaq: TELN) today officially announced it is sourcing radio access and Evolved Packet Core (EPC) gear from the Chinese vendor for a trial of the proto-4G technology in Oslo. Huawei's involvement first came to light in May when Unstrung revealed the engagement. (See Telenor to Test Huawei LTE.)

Oslo is turning out to be Huawei's lucky city in terms of LTE: Telia Company has already built a trial LTE node in Oslo with the Chinese vendor, and claims to have already tested "live" services. (See TeliaSonera: We'll Do 4G in 2010, 'Live' LTE Demo in Norway, and TeliaSonera Makes LTE Connection.)

The Norwegian carrier's choice of vendor partner for the trial shows just how competitive the all-important LTE market is becoming, with a core group of about 10 vendors all battling for bragging rights and consolidation of technical expertise already underway. (See NSN Picks at Nortel's Mobile Bones and Core Network Challenges LTE Vendors.)

Telenor has historically turned to Ericsson and Nokia Networks (now NSN) for its mobile network gear in Scandinavia, so this is another wakeup call for Northern Europe's local telecom vendors. (See Ericsson EDGEs at Telenor.)

Huawei, though, isn't new to Telenor, as it's already supplying GSM infrastructure to one of the operator's international subsidiaries, Grameenphone in Bangladesh. (See Huawei Wins GSM Deal.)

The new trial relationship provides the vendor with an improved international opportunity to expand its relationship with Telenor, which has multiple overseas operations in Europe, including Hungary, Russia, Serbia, and Ukraine; and in Asia/Pacific, including Malaysia, Pakistan, Thailand, and a controlling stake in one of India's mobile startups, Unitech. (See Telenor Invests in Unitech, IndiaWatch: Towering Investments, and Telenor Has 150M Subs.)

— Ray Le Maistre, International News Editor, Light Reading