ZTE wins China Mobile TD-LTE contract

ZTE Corp. says it has won a contract to build TD-LTE networks for China Mobile in five major cities.

ZTE's October 15 announcement that it won the bid was an attempt to win back investor confidence, an industry source said.

Earlier, the ZTE said it expected to lose up to 2 billion yuan in the third quarter of this year.

In August, China Mobile started the tender process for its TD-LTE networks in 13 trial cities. The company plans to start work on networks in 100 cities in 2013, eventually building more than 200,000 base stations.

Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd., ZTE Corp., Nokia Siemens Networks and Ericsson were among the companies that participated the bidding. The other companies have not said whether they won contracts.

TD-LTE is a fourth-generation wireless telecoms technology for smartphones and other devices. The building of base stations is a key step in setting up a network.

ZTE has become the largest TD-LTE equipment supplier for China Mobile, ZTE said.

By getting into the TD-LTE sector early and cooperating with China Mobile, ZTE is seeking greater market share, Liu Peng, vice president of ZTE, said.