Infonetics Research: Mobile Infrastructure Survey Shows Huawei's Image Improving in the Eyes of Service Providers

(Business News & Technology News, 22 Oct 2009)

Infonetics Research published a new report, Mobile Infrastructure Vendor Ratings and Product Features: Global Service Provider Survey, which polled purchase decision-makers at carriers in EMEA and Asia Pacific.
The survey, part of Infonetics' Mobile and LTE Continuous Research Service (CRS), asked service providers about their familiarity with and ratings of mobile infrastructure vendors, which criteria are most important when selecting a vendor, and which features are most critical when purchasing RAN, mobile switching, mobile packet core, and Home Location Register (HLR) equipment.
ANALYST NOTE
"Based on our recent mobile infrastructure service provider survey, market share reporting, and other carrier surveys, one message is clear: Huawei has really improved its global image. Our discussions with mobile operators indicate Huawei is no longer perceived as a seller of cheap products, but rather as having good technology and offering good value for the price.
Huawei is overtaking Alcatel-Lucent on many fronts, and is now en route to attacking Nokia Siemens Networks' market position in the mobile infrastructure space. And watch out, because ZTE is on the rise as well," notes Stéphane Téral, Infonetics Research's principal analyst for mobile and FMC.
SURVEY HIGHLIGHTS
- In an open-ended question asking service providers who they consider to be the top three mobile infrastructure vendors, all respondents named Nokia Siemens Networks
- Service providers rated 5 mobile infrastructure vendors (Alcatel-Lucent, Cisco, Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia Siemens Networks) on 8 criteria: technology, product roadmap, security, management, price-to-performance ratio, pricing, financial stability, and service and support> Ericsson received the highest ratings for service and support
- A growing majority of mobile operators are looking at cutting operating expenses by either outsourcing or sharing their RAN, so criteria related to this strategy have become key in the vendor selection process
SURVEY SYNOPSIS
In September 2009, Infonetics Research surveyed knowledgeable purchase decision-makers at service providers in Asia Pacific (20%) and Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (80%) that operate a wireless network.
Ninety percent of respondents have GSM/GPRS/edge networks, 70% have W-CDMA/HSPA networks, and roughly 10% have both W-CDMA and CDMA2000, CDMA 2000 1xEV-DO, cdmaOne, or WiMAX networks.
The service providers participating in the mobile infrastructure vendor rating survey are a mix of incumbents (80%) and competitives (20%) that together represent 14% of the world's carrier revenue and 12% of the world's telecom capex, as reported in Infonetics' Service Provider Capex, Opex, ARPU, and Subscribers service.