Nokia with 42 commercial 5G orders has edged ahead of Huawei and Ericsson, Nokia director Federico Guillen said, as the companies jostle for position in a market in which U.S.-driven security concerns over Chinese equipment have boosted the attraction of Nordic vendors.
Huawei has struck an estimated 40 commercial 5G orders. Swedish rival Ericsson has publicly announced 19 contracts, of which eight are live.
Customers are increasingly looking to Nokia to equip their next-generation core networks, either to have dual sourcing for the most sensitive parts of their networks or to replace existing providers, Guillen said.
Nokia said 22 of its 5G deals are with named customers such as T-Mobile, Telia and Softbank. It has won 12 new 5G orders since late March.