Network infrastructure vendors Huawei and ZTE are taking contracts from their higher-priced competitors, according to a new report from ABI Research.

“Alcatel-Lucent was eclipsed in [the second quarter] 2009 by ZTE,” said ABI Research Practice Director Aditya Kaul in the report. “It’s possible that Huawei could similarly eclipse Nokia Siemens Networks before the end of 2010.”

Though Ericsson and Nokia Siemens still hold the lead with 26 percent and 19 percent respectively in the market for mobile cellular equipment and services, Huawei attracted 16.5 percent of sales in 2009 and ZTE had 9 percent.

Worldwide spending on radio access infrastructure contracted 5 percent in 2009 to $49.5 billion in sales. Declines were the steepest in South America, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Western Europe. Sales in North America grew 32 percent as carriers continued to expand their 3G coverage and build up their networks to handle increased data traffic.