Leading research firm Garnet named Chinese vendor, ZTE Corp as a Top 3 LTE Network Infrastructure Vendor in its report titled, “Dataquest Insight: Scorecard for Vendors of Long Term Evolution Network Infrastructure.”

Gartner made the rankings based on seven criteria including Product or Service, Market Understanding, Offering/Product Strategy, Geographic Strategy, Sales and Marketing Strategy, Market Responsiveness and Track Record. Additionally, a 5-level rating for each criteria was employed.

Vendors judged included Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Huawei, Nokia Siemens Networks and ZTE among others. ZTE toped the list for Geographic Strategy” and has zero “Risk” rating.

The report says that ZTE is a strong player in the LTE vertical with a quality product portfolio as well as a growth strategy that is both prudent and sustainable. Gartner also says that ZTE is continually improving its marketing and business reach outside China while maintaining its regional market presence. Its financial position also enabled it to spend 10 % of revenues on R & D.

The report also forecasts that 70% of UMTS vendors will gradually upgrade to HSPA+ and LTE, and that most CDMA operators will choose LTE.