Industry sources told Reuters that China Mobile Ltd awarded 4G contracts to Chinese and foreign firms. The initial contracts were valued at CNY 20 billion or USD 3.2 billion. The sources further revealed that over half of the contracts were given to Chinese companies. Foreign firms bagged a third of the tender.
Reuters reported that China Mobile's 4G tender has been long-awaited by telecom equipment makers. China Mobile has over 700 million clients and is considered the largest mobile carrier in the world based on the number of subscribers. Its development of a 4G network could lift the tech equipment industry whose sales had dropped worldwide because of a decline in spending.
The industry source further told Reuters, "This is the tender that global telecom equipment vendors have been vying for this year. Even though we see Huawei and ZTE getting the bulk of the contracts and foreign vendors getting around a third, I'm sure they will keep going back to China Mobile and get a bit more share."
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