Ericsson wins 3G contract in Norway

STOCKHOLM Dec 21 (Reuters) - Ericsson (ERICb.ST), the world's biggest mobile network gear maker, said on Monday it had won a deal to provide a 3G network for operator Mobile Norway.

Mobile Norway, jointly owned by Sweden's Tele2 (TEL2b.ST) and Network Norway, aims to provide 75 percent of Norway's population with 3G services.

Ericsson's network offering was chosen because of its quality, functionality and the firm's implementation capability, Network Norway CEO Arild Hustad said in a statement.

The companies gave no financial details of the deal.

The contract follows last week's disappointment for Ericsson which was squeezed out of a 4G contract in Sweden by arch rival Huawei [HWT.UL]. [ID:nLDE5BH0NU]

Tele2 and Norway's Telenor (TEL.OL) picked the Chinese firm to provide a high-speed, high-capacity LTE (Long Term Evolution) network to cover Sweden.

Ericsson, Nokia Siemens Networks [NSN.UL] and Alcatel-Lucent (ALUA.PA) face increasing competition from Chinese vendors who have undercut prices to build market share.

Last week, the Nordic region's biggest telecoms operator, TeliaSonera (TLSN.ST), launched the world's first commercial mobile LTE services in Oslo and Stockholm.

Ericsson is supplying Telia's Stockholm network, but Huawei clinched the contract for Oslo. [ID:nLDE5BD1NK] (Editing by Jon Loades-Carter)