STOCKHOLM - Nokia has signed a contract with Deutsche Telekom to roll out a mobile network using Open Radio Access Network (ORAN) in more than 3,000 sites in Germany, the Finnish telecom equipment maker said in a statement on Wednesday.

The new deal formally marks Nokia's return as a supplier to Europe's largest network after Deutsche Telekom chose Ericsson equipment for parts of its network in 2017.

The deal, which includes Fujitsu, covers a mass rollout of ORAN-compliant technology with commercial deployment already underway in the Neubrandenburg area of Northern Germany.

After the companies did a trial run last year, Nokia will replace equipment from the incumbent, China's Huawei .

Both Nokia and Ericsson have been looking to sell equipment with ORAN technology that promises deep cost cuts by using cloud-based software and equipment from many suppliers instead of relying on just one.

Ericsson had already got big contracts with AT&T and Spain's largest telecoms operator, MasOrange.

(Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee in Stockholm, editing by Terje Solsvik)