Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) is closing in on Ericsson’s lead in the global mobile infrastructure market, according to latest research from Dell’Oro. The joint venture, which started operations in April 2007, increased its market share to 29% in the quarter from 25% a year earlier. Over the same period, the market share of Ericsson fell to 34% from 36%.

Dell’Oro attributes the shrinking gap to NSN’s growth in emerging markets in the Asia-Pacific region. “Nokia Siemens is definitely a very strong number two and is coming on strong,” Dell’Oro analyst Scott Siegler told Reuters. However, Siegler added that Ericsson remains the dominant player. The third-largest player, Alcatel-Lucent, had 16% of the market in October-December, while Huawei’s share more than doubled to 5%, on par with Motorola and just behind number four Nortel Networks. Dell’Oro said that GSM technology still dominates the telecom network market but WCDMA is gaining traction. The research firm claims that Huawei will shortly become the third-largest vendor of 3G networks, surpassing Alcatel-Lucent.