ZTE seals network upgrade deal with Belgium's Telenet
Under a partnership agreement signed this week, ZTE will modernize Telenet's entire radio equipment across Belgium, replacing current 2G base stations, and optimizing both 3G, 4G, and 4G+ coverage for Telenet, the Chinese company said in an announcement on Tuesday.
Telenet currently owns approximately 3,000 base stations in Belgium. The network upgrade, due to complete in the spring of 2018, will enable Telenet to lift the capacity of the Base network to accommodate growing data demands from its mobile customers currently hosted by Orange.
In February, Telenet concluded the takeover of mobile operator Base in a deal worth of 1.325 billion euro with KPN. Telenet, the country's largest cable provider, has announced a 300 million euro investment plan, among which 250 million euro is allocated for the transformation of its mobile network, according to the ZTE announcement.
Regarding the deal with Telenet as a milestone for ZTE that allows it to reinforce its presence in the European telecommunications market, ZTE CEO Zhao Xianming said the Chinese equipment provider has become a key player in the standardisation and modernisation of the mobile infrastructure in the region.
ZTE has been actively seeking business opportunities as the US government's trade sanctions has stymied its revenue growth. The company reported a 9.3 percent rise in first-half profit last week on a stronger gain in its home Chinese market, which has offset a weaker growth in US and European markets due to the impact of government restrictions.