Motorola sees some more networks spending

BARCELONA, SPAIN: There is some indication of demand returning to the hard-hit mobile telecoms equipment market, Bruce Brda, the head of Motorola's wireless networks business said on Wednesday.

Competition for new business in the telecommunications equipment market has been cut-throat during the past few years, sharpened by aggressive Asian vendors, and last year the market fell around 10 percent in the midst of recession.

However, while Brda said carriers have consistently said they do not plan to increase investments the company saw better than expected demand in late 2009 for its older technologies as some operators strengthened their networks to cope with surging data traffic.

"In early 2010 I am seeing the same trend. The indication is there is incremental spending," Brda told Reuters in interview on the sidelines of the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona.

Brda said Motorola is aiming to win a new technology LTE deal in Europe this year, having so far won orders for LTE networks in Japan and Saudi Arabia.

Long Term Evolution technology enables fast mobile broadband access for services such as watching movies on mobile phones.