Belgian modem maker Option may have come to a settlement with Huawei last year, but the Chinese vendors are not free from European Commission investigation yet.
Option had spearheaded a probe into allegations of modem dumping by Huawei and ZTE, but then withdrew its complaints when it formed a patents and manufacturing alliance with the former giant.
Such a settlement would not necessarily avoid EU action, and now another small European player, Germany's 4G Systems, has taken up the baton.
The company has petitioned the EU's executive body, the European Commission, to continue its investigation into claims of unfair subsidies provided by the Chinese government to Huawei and ZTE, enabling them to undercut local suppliers of wireless modems.
Option had originally claimed that these subsidies had enabled the Chinese giants to squeeze its share of the European modem market dramatically.
The case is seen has having broader ramifications beyond the modem space, and will be closely watched by Europe's wireless equipment makers - Ericsson, Nokia Siemens and Alcatel-Lucent - which have also been forced to engage in price wars with their Chinese rivals.
“Because of the increasing imports of WWAN modems from China and the decreasing prices for these products in particular within the last three years, 4G Systems lost a number of its main customers, eg T-Mobile, Vodafone, Orange, One Telenor,” said 4G Systems in its filing to the EC, as reported by Dow Jones Newswires.