Chinese mobile operators invite Swedish Ericsson to participate in 5G equipment test

Ericsson. Photo: VCG

China’s four major telecom operators have invited Swedish firm Ericsson to participate in their 5G equipment test which offers Ericsson an opportunity for an “interview” to access China’s 5G market, Global Times reports.

The test is organized by China Telecom, China Unicom, China Mobile, and China Broadcasting Network Corporation and telecom suppliers including Huawei, ZTE, Ericsson, Finland’s Nokia, and other domestic and foreign telecommunications suppliers have participated.

A source close to the matter told Global Times that the invitation could be the last chance for Sweden to pull back its wrong decision to exclude Chinese firms such as Huawei from participating in its country’s 5G construction. The source also pointed out that participating in the 5G test does not mean that Ericsson will be hired and Sweden has to carefully reconsider its China policy in this regard.

“The invitation to Ericsson is just an ‘interview opportunity’ rather than a final call of ‘hiring,’ since the Chinese people won’t tolerate any vicious deed against them,” said the source.

The source noted, “Sweden has excluded Huawei, while Ericsson is planning to continue to take orders in China, which is tantamount to ‘smashing the bowls’ of Chinese companies. However, they still want their own companies to continue to eat the ‘cake’ of the Chinese market. Will the 1.4 billion Chinese people agree?”.

From a technical perspective, Ericsson’s 5G equipment does not have an advantage compared with domestic and foreign companies such as Huawei, ZTE, and Nokia, the source added.

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