Ericsson says did not bid for huge China Mobile deal

Ericsson said it had not competed with Alcatel-Lucent for a 643 million euros (US$1 billion) deal with China Mobile which the French group signed this week.

A Reuters report quoted Ericsson CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg as saying that the Swedish group had not been beaten to the deal, which is a framework agreement to provide mobile communication equipment and services.

'We weren't competing for that order,' Svanberg told reporters at a meeting in Stockholm.

Svanberg had been asked about the deal, which had prompted a lengthy article in Swedish business daily Dagens Industri about how Ericsson's rival had won the order.