Nokia set to win 5G radio equipment contract with Portugal’s MEO

Nokia and Portuguese telecom provider MEO are set to collaborate on the sale of 5G radio equipment. This is a significant shift compared to China's Huawei, which has been MEO's exclusive supplier of 2G, 3G, and 4G Radio Access Network (RAN) equipment. The details released in an internal Nokia blog post regarding this development were confirmed by two persons with knowledge of the circumstances.

The sources claim that although the deal has been agreed upon, it has not yet been signed. An official announcement could come as soon as next month. Currently owned by French company Altice, MEO, formerly Telecom Portugal, is one of Portugal's top mobile operators.

"In recent years, MEO...has been delivered in RAN exclusively by Huawei. In other words, Huawei has a 100 percent market share in 2G/3G/4G. We have now been chosen to replace Huawei in some of the key markets in Portugal," Tommi Uitto, president of Nokia's mobile networks, wrote in an internal blog by Reuters.

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Huawei, Nokia, and its Swedish rival Ericsson all make a large amount of their telecom sales from RAN equipment. However, a drop in demand for new equipment from telecom carriers since last year has harmed both Nokia and Ericsson, resulting in significant job losses.

According to Dell'Oro, the worldwide RAN market is expected to decline by 5-8 per cent in 2024. Despite being banned in the United States and numerous European nations because of security concerns, Huawei maintains a considerable foothold in Europe and a sizable share of China's booming telecom industry.

The potential agreement with MEO represents Nokia's comeback to Portugal's RAN market, which has been missing for several years after losing its market share to Huawei. This contract has the potential to reestablish Nokia as a major participant in the Portuguese telecom scene.

(With inputs from Reuters)