Europe-based telecom equipment manufacturers Nokia and Ericsson are winning key 5G contracts in China which is a significant move as analysts say that it indicates China’s open attitude towards all the international players when it comes to rolling out the next-gen network technology — 5G.
China had promised international cooperation and the significant share of equipment procurement indicates that it is keeping its word. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in China had said that it welcomes foreign enterprises to actively participate in China’s 5G network construction and application promotion.
The development comes after China Mobile, which is the world’s largest telecom operator by the number of subscribers count, awarded its first round of 5G network equipment contracts worth around $2 billion.
The company has procured around 153 units of MME telecom equipment from Sweden-based company Ericsson. This accounts for around 34 percent of the company’s total procurements. On the other hand, Nokia has provided 56 units of MME telecom equipment, accounting for 12 percent.
Coming to the SAE telecom equipment, Ericsson provided 231 units, accounting for 34 percent of China Mobile’s business, while Nokia offered 60 units, equivalent to around 9 percent of the overall procurements.
China Mobile is currently accelerating the development of infrastructure for the 5G technology after it recently won the 5G commercial license. The company is now aiming to offer 5G commercial services in around 40 cities by the end of September 2019.
Earlier this month, China granted four licenses to telecom carriers, marking the official kick off of the 5G era in the country. It also marked an accelerated push by China for the adaptation of 5G given that the country’s previous plan was to commercialize the 5G technology in 2020.
A number of foreign companies, including Nokia, Ericsson, Qualcomm, and Intel have already participated in three phases of technical test conducted by China to get their 5G products and solutions ready for the commercial use in China.
