Everything Everywhere to upgrade 2G network with Huawei

SHENZHEN, CHINA: Huawei has won the contract to upgrade Everything Everywhere's 2G networks to provide improved coverage, data capacity and network quality.

Tim Watkins, vice president of Huawei for western Europe, explained that the new network will allow Everything Everywhere to provide Orange and T-Mobile customers with several benefits, and prepare the operator for future LTE rollouts.

"The deal will enable customers on both networks to gain access to improved data performance and indoor coverage, and will provide this coverage for 99 per cent of the UK population," he said.

"By using our Single Radio Access Network technology, Everything Everywhere also has the ability to upgrade to 4G networks in the future."

However, it is unlikely that 4G networks will be ready in the UK until 2014 under a timetable released by Ofcom for the relevant spectrum auctions.

The contract is Huawei's first in the UK mobile network space, and Watkins said that the firm had to conduct a "fierce campaign" to win the deal, which will be delivered over four years, with some work already underway.

"This is a significant breakthrough for Huawei and the UK mobile market, which is probably the last of the top five Western markets to begin upgrading to 2G networks," he said.

"There are already some trial sites in operation but the significant work will begin next year and the year after that."

The value of the contract and the number of base stations being upgraded were not announced, but a spokesperson for Everything Everywhere revealed that all the equipment will be subject to security checks.

"We have a rigorous security process in place that ensures all our partners and work undertaken by them meets our required standards. Huawei underwent a stringent security check and agreed to a specific set of security requirements before being selected," the spokesperson said.

"All equipment purchased will be security tested to an agreed standard, with Everything Everywhere having full visibility of the testing process and its results at the dedicated security testing facility, built by Huawei in the UK, which also collaborates with GCHQ."

The deal means that Huawei replaces Nokia Siemens Networks and Ericsson/Nortel as the network providers for Orange and T-Mobile respectively.

It also comes after Everything Everywhere gave customers on both networks the ability to use each other's signal, and represents the next logical step in improving the network while reducing the cost of ownership and management.

Ovum analyst Steven Hartley explained that the deal was another sign of Huawei's continuing progress in Europe, having already won similar contracts with Telenor in Norway, Belgacom in Belgium and O2 in Germany.

"For EE it's still a significant investment, but in the long run it gets a more efficient network that is also more readily upgradeable to LTE," he added.

"Therefore, it's intended to make savings on two fronts: short-term opex and long-term LTE deployment. Given that we now finally have something of a timetable for LTE in the UK, it's a sensible approach and it wouldn't be surprising to see others follow suit."