Chinese infrastructure supplier Huawei is continuing it trailblazing across Europe, winning a deal for HSPA+ and LTE with Italy's second mobile operator Wind.
Huawei will develop and deploy both high-speed technologies for Wind and establish a Joint Innovation Lab in Rome. Wind reportedly chose Huawei because of its flexible SingleRAN base station platform that enables operators to integrate its GSM, HSPA and LTE systems in the future to a converged RAN. The vendor's SingleRAN platform has been a huge selling point in Europe since operators are looking for flexibility in moving to LTE down the line.
Huawei's SingleRAN technology will initially be used in seven regions in Italy, and the vendor will also provide a core network supporting SDH Synchronous Digital Hierarchy, to support an all-IP strategy including VoIP and IMS. Huawei will also take responsibility for project management, site acquisition and construction and network design.
Huawei has scored several LTE trials across Europe, including Wind's competitor Telecom Italia, and is one of the vendors TeliaSonera is using for its commercial LTE network in Scandinavia. Late last year Huawei swooped in and took a massive six-year contract with Norway's Telenor in Ericsson and NSN's backyard. Likewise, Belgacom has chosen Huawei to upgrade its mobile network.
For more:
- see this Rethink-Wireless article
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