Chinese Huawei wins Swedish 4G network deal from Ericsson

símiNet4mobility, the joint venture between Tele 2 and Telenor, has chosen Chinese operator Huawei over local giant Ericsson to roll out the new ultra high-speed 4G network in Sweden.

The decision represents a massive blow to Ericsson on its home turf but ultimately it was sealed by the Chinese firm’s lower prices. Both Telenor and Tele 2 stated that they had been won over by the competitive pricing offered by Huawei.

Ericsson has publicly stated that it regretted the decision not going its way given the local organisation is the world’s largest vendor of network equipment. “We went as low as we possibly could in price during the negotiations but it wasn’t enough,” said the Nordic and Baltic regional head, Mikael Backstrom.

“It has been a long procurement process in which we discussed both technology and price before settling on Huawei,” said Niclas Palmstierna, the CEO of Tele 2 Sweden CEO reports The Local. “All actors in this process are strong on technology and have comparable offers. But we opted for Huawei because they met with all of our important parameters,” Palmstierna added.

The project will begin in 2010 with the aim of Net4mobility to have the high speed 4G mobile network accessible to 99 percent of Swedes by 2013 according to the Local.

In coming years, expectations are that billions of euros will be spent on fourth generation networks to keep up with the surging demand for mobile data, gaming and television traffic.

Elsewhere, Ericsson was somewhat boosted by the announcement that they had won the 3G network provisions for neighbour Mobile Norway.

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