Alcatel-Lucent this week signed €1.2 billion worth procurement deals with China Mobile and China Unicom.
The one-year agreements will see Alcatel-Lucent supply mobile and fixed access hardware, IP routing and optical networking equipment. It will also provide network functions virtualisation (NFV) and software-defined networking (SDN) solutions.
"This announcement is highly significant as it furthers Alcatel-Lucent’s role as a key technology provider in China and aligns perfectly with our strategy of bringing high-speed ultra-broadband access to open up new opportunities for both service providers and their customers alike," said Alcatel-Lucent CEO Michel Combes, in a statement on Thursday.
The deal with China Mobile is worth 4.53 billion yuan (€656 million), while the deal with China Unicom is wor th CNY3.59 billion (€520 million).
The range of technologies covered by the pacts includes FDD/TDD LTE, GPON and Ethernet passive optical networking (EPON), and optical transport and private telecommunications network (PTN) equipment.
The vendor will also provide IP routing and switching technology and voice over LTE (VoLTE), as well as the aforementioned NFV and SDN solutions.
The agreements will help China Mobile and China Unicom progress towards the goals set out by the Broadband China programme, which aims to provide nationwide broadband coverage by 2020.
The mammoth project will see China’s government spend €163 billion on broadband networks in 2015-2017.
