China's Huawei wins largest LTE deal in Europe
* Large upgrade of firm's Norwegian infrastructure
* Replaces Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks
* Six-year deal
(Adds detail, quotes)
OSLO, Nov 5 (Reuters) - Norwegian telecoms group Telenor (TEL.OL) has picked China's Huawei [HWT.UL] and Starent Networks STAR.O of the U.S. to replace its entire mobile infrastructure in Norway, first built by Ericsson and Nokia Siemens Networks.
Pending approval by Telenor ASA's board, the six-year deal will include the building of a fourth-generation (4G) cellphone network to expand network capacity and speed up data delivery for clients.
Huawei and Starent Networks will be technology providers for the wireless network and mobile core network, respectively, Telenor said. The existing network was largely built by Sweden's Ericsson (ERICb.ST), which is the world's biggest telecoms equipment company, and Finnish-German Nokia Siemens Networks [NSN.UL].
"This is the biggest upgrade of the mobile network in Norway we have ever carried out," said head of Telenor Norway, Ragnar Kaarhus, in a statement.
"The replacement of infrastructure will represent a moderate increase in investments over the next two years, and thereafter improve our cost and capex structure," Telenor said.
Telenor said it was "a combination of technical quality, reliability in terms of handling a large-scale equipment replacement operation and commercial terms" that were the deciding factors for picking the two companies.
In October, Cisco Systems Inc (CSCO.O) announced a deal to buy Starent Networks for about $2.9 billion.
(Reporting by Aasa Christine Stoltz and Terje Solsvik, editing by Will Waterman)
((aasachristine.stoltz@reuters.com; +47 22 93 69 02; Reuters messaging: aasachristine.stoltz.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: TELENOR HUAWEI/STARENT =2
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