A while ago I was told by an executive from one of the big network equipment vendors that he had seen proof that a Chinese competitor was spoofing network performance in a competitive trial to try and win business. One conclusion can be drawn from this accusation, valid or not: Things are getting desperate in the infrastructure supply sector. Falsifying performance data would be a drastic act, after all—but then so would slandering the opposition.

Chinese infrastructure vendor ZTE has extended its strategic partnership agreement with China Development Bank (CDB). As a result, CDB will expand its financing facility for ZTE to $20bn. In 2005, CDB and ZTE began their cooperation, agreeing a facility of $8bn, and then in 2009, the same year rival Huawei signed a $30bn deal with the CDB, the facility was increased to $15bn.

16 November 2012, Shenzhen, China / Nairobi, Kenya – ZTE Corporation, a global provider of telecommunications equipment, network solutions and mobile devices and Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”), a leading telecommunications services provider with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa, today announced that they have won the Best Cost Efficiency Initiative Award at the Africa Com Awards held in Cape Town, South Africa for their Hybrid Power Solution.

30th October 2012, Shenzhen, China – ZTE Corporation (“ZTE”) (0763.Hong Kong /000063.Shenzhen), a leading global provider of telecommunications equipment, network solutions and mobile devices, today announced that it climbed one position to become the 4th biggest smartphone manufacturer in the world during the third quarter of 2012, according to IDC, a leading provider of global ICT market research and advisory services.

Anyone reading the news will have seen plenty of reputations on the line this week. For one, a US House Intelligence Committee report levelled more allegations at Chinese infrastructure vendors ZTE and Huawei than USADA has at Lance Armstrong.

With just one week to go until this year’s Broadband InfoVision Awards ceremony in Amsterdam, we deliver our final category preview, ending on a suitably upbeat note with the Changing Lives Award.