Huawei wins Russian MegaFon contract

The logo for Chinese phone maker Huawei.

The logo for Chinese phone maker Huawei.

Published Jun 9, 2014

Share

Moscow - MegaFon, Russia’s second-largest wireless operator, agreed to buy at least $600 million (R6.4 billion) of equipment from Huawei Technologies at a time when ties between Russian and Chinese companies are strengthening.

MegaFon chose China’s largest maker of network products for a seven-year contract to speed mobile networks in several Russian territories, chief strategy officer Alexander Bashmakov said in a phone interview.

The deal, including software and maintenance, is worth “dozens of billion rubles,” he said.

Russia companies have boosted ties to China after the US and European Union imposed sanctions on the country to punish it for annexing the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine.

Gazprom, Russia’s biggest company, signed a $400 billion deal last month to ship gas to China.

“Huawei is one of the technological leaders in 4G equipment,” Bashmakov said.

“They are leading in the number of signed contracts with operators. The Russian market is very competitive in equipment prices, unlike the US where supplies of Chinese equipment are limited.”

MegaFon based its choice of Shenzen, China-based Huawei on financial and technological factors rather than politics, Bashmakov said. MegaFon, controlled by Russia’s richest man Alisher Usmanov and part-owned by TeliaSonera AB, will use a credit line from China Development Bank to fund the purchases.

 

China Investments

 

President Vladimir Putin is turning eastward as the US and EU sanctions batter the Russian economy.

Putin visited China last month to strengthen ties with the country, Russia’s largest trading partner, after two-way trade surged sevenfold in the past decade to about $94 billion last year.

On May 20, a unit of Usmanov’s mining company Metalloinvest announced a strategic cooperation agreement with China’s Hopu Investment Management, saying they plan a joint development of a copper deposit.

On May 22, billionaire Gennady Timchenko said China is prepared to finance most of Russia’s largest liquefied natural gas project, Yamal LNG.

Usmanov has sold most of his Facebook Inc. shares and expects to benefit from investments in China’s Internet giants Alibaba Group and JD.com, Ivan Streshinskiy, head of the billionaire’s asset-management company USM Advisors, said in March.

MegaFon, based in Moscow, is continuing talks with other network providers for other regions, Bashmakov said.

At least seven vendors were ready to supply equipment, he said.

The carrier previously used equipment from Huawei and Finland’s Nokia to build 2G and 3G networks.

Closely held Huawei’s rivals also include Sweden’s Ericsson and France’s Alcatel-Lucent.

MegaFon has said it plans at least $5.2 billion capital spending in 2013 through 2015.

The carrier trails billionaire Vladimir Evtushenkov’s Mobile TeleSystems in Russia.

“The era of highly-priced purchases is over,” Bashmakov said.

“Instead, vendors in Russia have to agree on lower margins and long-term co-operation.” - Bloomberg News

Related Topics: