ZTE has reportedly won a contract to supply network infrastructure to Telenor Hungary, in a deal worth more than EUR250 million. The Chinese equipment vendor is set to build 6,000 base stations across the country, as part of a unified 2G, 3G and LTE rollout. ZTE is currently gaining momentum when it comes to LTE, recently noting that it has supplied seven commercial networks using the technology, and is involved in almost 50 pilot programmes. ZTE also said that 18 percent of its revenue now comes from Europe and the US, as it expands beyond its traditional APAC strongholds.

Telenor Hungary is the second largest operator in the country, with 30.7 percent of total connections, according to Wireless Intelligence data. It lags T-Mobile Hungary, which has 46 percent of connections, but outranks Vodafone Hungary, with 23.3 percent. Telenor and ZTE’s relationship has not always been smooth. Late in 2008, it was reported that the operator had suspended ZTE from tendering for new business, because of a breach in Telenor’s code of practice – this was subsequently attributed to a single employee in a ZTE subsidiary “acting on his own behalf.”