Huawei, the major Chinese operator, has been picked by Italian mobile operator Wind to lead the charge for a €1bn (£854.1m) network based on LTE.
As reported by Bloomberg, Wind expects to build the infrastructure, with Huawei and network engineering firm Sirti, for the network over five years. The move could be seen as something of a coup for both players, given that Wind is currently the third largest mobile operator in Italy.
Wind competes with Vodafone Italy and Telecom Italia, having been the three operators to secure spectrum in its auctions, held on September 29 2011.
Last week Huawei announced its audited 2012 financial results, posting “steady business growth” of a CNY 15.38bn net profit and sales revenues of CNY 220.19bn.
Guo Ping, Huawei’s rotating and acting CEO, said that Huawei would “continue to focus on its pipe strategy, integrate and develop businesses around the information pipe”, citing big data and BYOD as key trends.
Half of the money generated from the Wind contract will go to Huawei, further boosting the Chinese vendor’s coffers, although the Financial Times reports that Huawei will “control” the venture.
In what has been a particularly busy week, Huawei has also announced what is claimed as the telecoms industry’s first LTE small cell router. The Huawei ATN 905 will, in theory, enable operators to extend backhaul network coverage – a vital element of course, with backhaul needed to connect small cells to the core network.
The Wind partnership may not come as too much of a surprise to those who follow the trials and tribulations of Huawei. The company’s success in Europe is impressive, albeit possibly enhanced by the US and Australian telecoms markets snubbing Huawei, due to fears of the company – and its founder, Ren Zhengfei – and links to the Chinese government.
Ren has always maintained innocence, claiming that he was made redundant from the People’s Liberation Army over 30 years ago, with Dan Steinbock writing a paper back in September claiming Ren was “tragically misunderstood” in the United States.
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