L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co. (ERIC) said Friday it has been awarded contracts to provide fixed broadband access to the three Chinese telecom operators, China Mobile (CHL), China Unicom (CHU) and China Telecom (CHA).

The Stockholm-based telecom equipment vendor said it will roll out fiber-to-the-home, or FTTH, networks for the three operators, which are upgrading their networks in a number of provinces including Guangdong, Shanghai and Sichuan.

It said it will also provide a range of services, including competence development, network design and consultancy.

Ericsson didn't reveal the value of the orders.

The Chinese market, where operators are investing massive amounts of money to upgrade their networks, has turned into a major sales growth hope for telecom equipment vendors as demand in other parts of the world is hit by the economic recession.

Ericsson is involved in fierce competition with European rivals Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) and Nokia Siemens Networks (NOK, SI) as well as Chinese players such as Huawei Technologies Co for a share of the growing market.

Still, one Stockholm-based analyst said the contracts announced Friday are unlikely to have any significant importance for the Swedish company, as FTTH roll-out deals aren't significantly revenue-enhancing.

At 1026 GMT, Ericsson's shares were down 0.8% at SEK75.50 against a 0.4% drop in the broader Stockholm market.

 
   Company Web site: www.ericsson.com

-By Gustav Sandstrom, Dow Jones Newswires; +46-8-5451-3099; gustav.sandstrom@dowjones.com