ZTE, a global provider of telecommunications equipment and network solutions, has inked a UD$74 million pact with Hi3G Sweden.

According to the agreement, ZTE will deploy several thousand UMTS/LTE TDD/LTE FDD base stations, as well as auxiliary microwave and data transmission equipment over the next three years.

The agreement was signed in the presence of China’s Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and Sweden’s Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt when Wen visited Sweden during his recent tour of Europe.

"We are very glad to ink the deal with Hi3G in Sweden where the two companies launched the world’s first multi-mode LTE network,” said Huang Zheng, CEO of ZTE Sweden. “The deployment of ZTE equipment in Sweden shows that we have achieved a world leading position in terms of telecoms technology, product solutions and services."

ZTE Uni Ran solutions have effectively helped Hi3G Sweden to now integrate three modes and five frequencies into one network which started into commercial operation at the end of 2011 and became Europe’s first large scale LTE TDD network.

In his keynote speech at MWC 2012 about the deployment of the multimode network, Hi3G Sweden CTO Jörgen Askeroth said, “Over the past 12 months, Hi3G Sweden and ZTE went all out to deploy the LTE network in Sweden. ZTE offers professional support and achieved the target commercial launch date of December 15 2011. As of now, TDD performance is better than expected".