LIVE FROM HUAWEI GLOBAL ANALYST SUMMIT 2015: Eric Xu, deputy chairman and rotating CEO of Huawei, claimed the Chinese vendor is “pleased to see consolidation” through the planned €15.6 billion acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent by Nokia.

“Personally, I think this outcome is a must,” he said.

According to Bernstein Research, the new Nokia will have a 35 per cent share of the global wireless network market, putting it ahead of current number two Huawei (20 per cent) but still behind Ericsson (40 per cent).

While the Huawei executive (unsurprisingly) did not say anything controversial about the deal, he did note the need for them to be “successful in their post-merger integration” in order for them to become a strong player in the infrastructure segment.

Alcatel-Lucent, in particular, struggled in the period following its own merger between Alcatel and Lucent, with a long period of cost-cutting, job losses and asset sales.

“With competition between three strong players, namely Ericsson, the new Nokia and Huawei, we can compete and bring value to our customers,” Xu said.

Huawei’s smaller Chinese rival, ZTE, is similarly upbeat on the deal, citing reduced competition in the market – but with operators still demanding equipment from multiple suppliers.