Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) expects to take Huawei’s number two spot in the mobile network equipment market next year.

This ambition was revealed by Kenneth Wirth, the venture’s head of customer operations for the Americas, in an interview with Reuters.

Wirth cited new contracts his company had won, especially around the booming LTE market.

NSN trails Huawei in the global mobile network equipment market, which is led by Ericsson. According to statistics from research firm Dell’Oro, Huawei’s market share was 22.3 percent in the second quarter, compared with NSN’s 18.1 percent share. Ericsson dominates the market with a 35.5 percent share. Troubled Alcatel-Lucent has 14 percent.

However, NSN faces a very tough challenge to usurp Huawei. Huawei itself has revealed how it plans to take Ericsson’s crown, while NSN is in the middle of restructuring to focus on becoming a mobile broadband specialist. In the past year, NSN has sold its WiMax unit to NewNet Communication Technologies, its Expedience proprietary fixed wireless broadband business to CN Tetragen, its fixed line broadband access unit to Adtran and microwave transport business to DragonWave. Rival Ericsson is reportedly now at the head of the queue to acquire NSN’s business support systems division.