Alcatel-Lucent said it has been awarded a contract by China Mobile to deploy its expanded trial TD-LTE network in three cities, as the mobile giant moves to 4G quickly.
Under the contract, Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell, Alcatel-Lucent’s China subsidiary, will supply about 3,000 base stations in Shanghai, Nanjing and Qingdao. Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Rajeev Singh-Molares, president of Alcatel-Lucent Asia-Pacific region, said Alcatel-Lucent will deliver “the largest share” of China Mobile's new TD-LTE trial rollout across these three major China cities.
The vendor was selected by China Mobile in March 2011 to deploy a trial TD-LTE network in Shanghai
Singh-Molares said Alcatel-Lucent currently has over 20% of the worldwide LTE equipment market, and the scale of the China Mobile deal has increased the vendor's position in 4G and its market share in China.
With more than 700 million subscribers, China Mobile has been aggressively pursuing an expanded TD-LTE trial network. By the end of 2012, the trial network will deploy 20,000 base stations and 52,000 carrier sectors covering 13 cities across China, which have a combined population of 150 million people.
China Mobile launched the tender in August and attracted bids from a number of global and local vendors including Alcatel-Lucent, ZTE, Huawei Technologies, Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks.