Swedish operator to continue rollout of LTE networks in Stockholm and Oslo.
Swedish telecom operator TeliaSonera AB said Wednesday it has selected equipment vendors LM Ericsson Telephone Co. and Nokia Siemens Networks to deliver fourth-generation networks in Sweden and Norway, marking an important win in their home region after recent losses to China's Huawei Technologies Co.
TeliaSonera at the end of last year launched 4G networks in Stockholm and Oslo. It said Wednesday that the roll-out will now continue to Sweden's 25 largest municipalities and recreation areas and to Norway's four largest municipalities.
Fourth generation technologies offer higher bandwidth and data speeds than previous standards such as GSM and CDMA, to better support the next generation of mobile applications and services.
Click here to find out more!Under the agreements, which cover roll out during 2010 and 2011, Ericsson will deliver the common 4G core network while Ericsson and NSN will deliver the radio networks.
Nokia Siemens Networks is a joint venture between Finland's Nokia Corp. and Germany's Siemens AG.
TeliaSonera said privately-held Huawei continues to finalize the 4G network in Oslo, which it was previously selected to provide.
Ericsson, NSN and France's Alcatel-Lucent SA have faced intensifying competition and pricing pressure from Huawei, which industry experts say now also matches the Western firms' in terms of technology and innovation.
In December, Nordic operators Tele2 AB and Telenor ASA selected Huawei to supply 4G infrastructure in Sweden in a particular blow for Ericsson, the world's largest equipment vendor, in its home country.
TeliaSonera's Chief Technology Officer Lars Klasson told Dow Jones Newswires Wednesday that the company will continue rolling out 4G networks at additional locations depending on demand.
TeliaSonera gave the contracts to Ericsson and NSN because they offered attractive prices said Klasson, adding that the two European vendors and China's Huawei offer very similar technology.
Meanwhile, Ericsson President Nordic and Baltics, Mikael Backstrom, told Dow Jones Newswires that early wins of 4G contracts are important as part of Ericsson's aim to be a market leader in mobile broadband.
Ericsson has previously signed 4G contracts with operators including Verizon Wireless in the U.S. and NTT DoCoMo in Japan.
Verizon Wireless is a joint venture of Verizon Communications Inc. and Vodafone Group PLC.
The Teliasonera orders are important for both Ericsson and NSN in their battle with Huawei, said Swedbank analyst Hakan Wranne.
Still, the roll-out may give TeliaSonera only a limited commercial advantage because most of its Nordic rivals are also about to set up 4G networks and because consumers still don't have ready access to technology such as laptop dongles which they need to use the new networks, Wranne said.
Click here to find out more!At 0929 GMT, shares in TeliaSonera were up 0.2% at SEK50.60, Ericsson traded 1.8% higher at SEK69.95 and Nokia gained 1.1% to EUR9.11, against a 0.5% rise in the Nordic OMXN40 index.
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