ZTE said Wednesday it has won the lion's share of China Telecom’s initial 4G contract.
The Chinese telecom equipment vendor said China Telecom has selected the company as a sole supplier for evolved packet core (EPC) equipment to the operator’s LTE network in 15 provinces across the country, which represents nearly 50% of the tender.
As part of the contract, ZTE also will provide a 2G/3G/TDD/FDD/WiFi multi-network collaboration solution with its EPC equipment, the company added.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
China Telecom will build a nationwide hybrid FDD/TDD LTE network covering 31 provinces in China. The EPC tender is the first of China Telecom’s LTE tenders, and the operator has selected only one vendor to provide the IP core network for its 4G network in each province.
ZTE aside, China Telecom has also picked five other companies, including Huawei, Ericsson, NSN, Alcatel-Lucent, and New Postcom Equipment Company Ltd, to build the LTE core network in the remaining 16 provinces, Sina.com reports.
China Telecom hadn’t responded to an email inquiry in time for publication.
Wang Ping, press relation manager at ZTE, said the company has also won contracts to supply other wireless equipment for China Telecom’s LTE network, in deals ZTE is expected to announce soon.
ZTE is the major supplier for China Telecom’s 3G (CDMA EVDO) network and the EPC deal announced yesterday hints a bigger share of China Telecom’s 4G contracts, industry watcher said.
The announcement also signals intensifying competition between China Telecom and China Mobile in the race to build 4G networks across the country.
China Telecom has previously said it would build a hybrid TDD-FDD LTE network after the government issues 4G licenses.
China Mobile, which has already build TD-LTE networks in 15 cities across China, is expected to introduce 4G services by end of this month in a few major cities including Guangzhou and Shenzhen.