Ericsson secured a slice of the latest 5G tender set to be announced by China Unicom and China Telecom for a joint network deployment, Reuters reported, while rival Nokia was once again expected come away empty handed.

The news outlet’s sources stated Ericsson won around a 3 per cent share of the joint RAN contract to be awarded by the two operators. The vast majority of the big money deal was won by China’s domestic vendors Huawei, ZTE and state-owned entity Datang Telecom.

As with the operators’ 5G joint supplier award in April 2020, Nokia is expected to be excluded. In this latest move, Ericsson reportedly received around 10 per cent of the contract.

The report comes two weeks after China Mobile awarded contracts to both European players its latest 5G tenders.

Changing fortunes
The China Mobile result proved a boost for Nokia, having had well-documented struggles in the market. Ericsson, however, has been cautious on its prospects in the wake of Huawei being shut out of supplying 5G equipment in Sweden.

In addition to recording a lower share than Nokia in China Mobile’s tender, Ericsson reported reduced revenue from the market in its Q2 results last month.

Speaking to Mobile World Live following its latest financial announcement Ericsson EVP business area networks Fredrik Jejdling said it would be “prudent to assume we’re going to get a lower market share in mainland China” given the decision of Swedish authorities.