Undercuts Huawei and ZTE in China Mobile 4G tender

July 19, 2013

1 Min Read
NSN Gets Aggressive in China

Nokia Siemens Networks has stirred the RFP pot in China by undercutting local vendors Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. and ZTE Corp. in the massive China Mobile Ltd. LTE TDD radio access network equipment tender, writes Light Reading contributing editor Robert Clark in his Electric Speech blog.

As previously reported, China Mobile recently issued a tender for 207,000 4G base stations to be deployed across 100 cities, and Huawei was confident of picking up the lion's share of the business. (See Huawei Has Its Eyes on the 4G Prize and China Mobile Delays Key 4G Tender.)

But, as Clark notes, NSN has surprised everyone by submitting the lowest bid, a move that would normally secure it the biggest single contract award. But will it work out that way?

For the full details, see Lowest bid: NSN surprises in China 4G tender.

What makes it even more interesting is that NSN has been slowly but surely improving its financial health by focusing on profitable business and even exiting deals that don't deliver decent (or any) margins. Undercutting Huawei and ZTE in China suggests strongly that NSN has decided, on this occasion, that scale, 4G market share and a very credible LTE TDD deployment reference is worth having even at a very low cost per unit. (See NSN: The Recovery Looks Real.)

— Ray Le Maistre, Editor-in-Chief, Light Reading

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