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Huawei Technologies Co. gained a major foothold in the U.S. on Tuesday after making the cut as a supplier to Clearwire Corp. (CLWR) and its wireless high-speed network.

Huawei, a privately held Chinese telecommunications vendor, has attempted to breach the North American market, but has only been able to do so through lower tier players. Clearwire marks the first U.S. national service provider to tap Huawei for its services. The deal represents an opportunity for the company to expand its presence in the region.

"We view this as a major milestone in our overall strategy in North America," Charlie Chen, a marketing and product management executive for Huawei, said on a conference call with reporters.

Under the three-year deal, Huawei will supply radio access network equipment to Clearwire's deployment of its wireless network, which runs off of a fourth-generation technology called WiMax. Clearwire currently runs its WiMax network in four markets, and plans to expand to 80 markets by the end of 2010. The company has a headstart over the traditional wireless carriers, which are also scrambling to deploy their own faster 4G networks.

Huawei's equipment is valuable because its base stations are compatible with multiple kinds of wireless technology. That includes what the other carriers are deploying, Chen said. Clearwire could conceivably change technologies down the line if it needed to.

"Huawei is probably the most important vendor Clearwire has right now," said Patrick Comack, an analyst for Zachary Investment Research. The vendor gives Clearwire the flexibility to change directions if necessary, he said.

For upstart Huawei, which wins much of its business globally by undercutting the competition, getting in the U.S. has been tough because many of the larger telecommunications companies have agreements with traditional vendors L.M. Ericsson Telephone Co. (ERIC) and Alcatel-Lucent (ALU). Huawei has helped deploy 45 WiMax networks around the world.

Huawei's equipment will allow Clearwire to more cheaply deploy its network. Generally, improved receiver performance means fewer cell sites needed and the potential to reduce base station costs by 20% to 30%, according to John Saw, the chief technology officer for Clearwire.

Clearwire plans to deploy roughly 20,000 base stations at a cost of $150,000 each.

"The cost savings will help," Saw said, noting that WiMax's buildout is already cheaper than traditional wireless deployments.

Huawei joins Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. (005930.SE) and Motorola Inc. (MOT) as WiMax suppliers. Saw declined to comment on how much business each vendor would get, only that they would compete on performance and cost.

Networking titan Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO) will also provide equipment to Clearwire.

Clearwire's Saw said that Huawei was chosen because of its ability to support a wide-reaching deployment at a low cost. Because it is a supplier agreement, the deal isn't expected to catch the gaze of regulators, he said.

Huawei has run afoul of U.S. government oversight in the past. Its deal to acquire 3Com Corp. (COMS) fell apart because of scrutiny over 3Com's business with the U.S. government. Chen stressed that Huawei was a 100% employee-owned company with no Chinese government ownership.

Clearwire is slated to report second-quarter results after the market's close. Shares recently fell 2.9% to $7.99.

-By Roger Cheng, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2153; roger.cheng@dowjones.com