Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies has been awarded contract to manage the core networks of Hutchison-owned 3UK.

The contract is worth £120m for five year, under which the Chinese telecommunication firm will manage 3 UK’s local mobile network.

Huawei will be responsible for planning and managing the core transmission, mobile access and core network build.

In addition the company will also deliver service management and operations for the operator’s core network in the UK, the transport network and the ICT applications.

Huawei has selected TechMahindra as its ICT Partner to deliver the ICT applications management.

Under the agreement, Huawei transfers a number of permanent roles to work for its managed services business and Tech Mahindra for the ICT applications management.

Huawei Technologies will replace Ericsson, which has been managing 3 UK network since 2005, and the contract value is less than the original deal with Ericsson.

Three UK chief executive Dave Dyson said the decision to select Huawei to manage core network operations follows a rigorous procurement process.

"We chose the partner that best met our requirements and which matched our long-term vision of how our network should be managed," Dyson said.