An expected spending spree by China Mobile is shaping up as a beauty pageant that will yield a small winners' circle among network suppliers, as China's top mobile carrier prepares to invest $7 billion to build a third-generation (3G) network.
China is expected to spend more than $10 billion nation-wide to set up its 3G networks after licences are awarded, which most believe will happen around the middle of next year.
The number of actual licences remains to be seen, with most people expecting three or four.
But regardless of the outcome, China Mobile (Hong Kong) Ltd, which has two-thirds of a market with 377 million subscribers, is almost certain to walk away with one licence.
Lucent and most of the world's other top mobile equipment makers, including Ericsson, Nokia Oyj, Siemens AG, Motorola Inc and Nortel, have spent much of the last two years jockeying for position to supply China Mobile when it builds its 3G network.