3G Competitive Pressure Drives Alcatel-Lucent Merger Talks

Telecom News Editorials Reports Glossary

3G Competitive Pressure Drives Alcatel-Lucent Merger Talks

5:30 am on March 28, 2006 | Category: Business, Cellular, Corporate

According to the Wall Street Journal, one of the main forces driving the Alcatel/Lucent merger talks is increased competition in the area of 3G network construction contracts.

A large portion of this competition is coming from Chinese telecom equipment makers, including Huawei Technologies and ZTE. These companies have been aggressively expanding their market shares, and are trying to expand their reach around the globe.

With more an more developing markets, including India, and China itself, on the verge of building 3G wireless networks, Alcatel and Lucent obviously believe that merging will put them both in a better competitive position.

After all, the manufacturers that can best appeal to carriers in these growing markets will be the ones that succeed and dominate the telecom industry of the future.