IT Cost Reduction

Mobile communications company Nokia (News - Alert) this week has been busy releasing news that provides perspective into its vision for the future of on-the-go telephony. Since Monday the company has announced a partnership with T-Mobile (News - Alert) for 3G rollout in the U.S., the launch of four new phones, and a deal with Yahoo! to extend mobile Internet services.

 

And the week is only at its half-way point.

 

Today Nokia continued its news blitz with two media releases—one emphasizing the importance of the Internet for the future of mobile telephony, the other outlining how the company plans to harness IP telephony to drive new communications solutions.

 

“The internet has transformed the way we live our lives and communicate with each other, and we expect it to play a key role in the next phase of Nokia's growth,” the company’s CEO and President, Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, said in a speech Wednesday at Nokia World 2006 Conference in Amsterdam.

 

More specifically, at its conference Nokia noted that mobile communications continues to enjoy strong growth, with a new milestone of 3 million global subscribers expected during 2007. The company further predicted that, by 2010, the number of mobile subscribers will reach 4 billion.

 

What does Nokia see as key drivers for this projected growth? Answer: music, mobile TV, and navigation services. The availability of those types of services, the company said, means that, as time goes on, more people will begin accessing the Internet for the first time not on a PC but on mobile phones.

 

Of course, growth won’t be even globally. Nokia sees key markets as Asia Pacific, China and India.

 

Staying on the forefront of mobile communications growth clearly is priority number one at Nokia. A key component of that, the company said, is embracing the potential of VoIP.

“The use of broadband Internet access for voice communication is here to stay, and Nokia recognizes that traditional operators - both mobile and fixed - can swim in these waters as well,” the company’s Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Roberto Loiola, said in a statement.

 

Nokia is focusing both on the needs of operators and end-users when it comes to developing VoIP-based mobile solutions.

 

At the core of the company’s mobile VoIP initiative is its new Nokia Communication Suite, which lets operators offer a variety of connection options—including PC to PC calls, mobile telephony, and traditional telephony—with advanced features at competitive rates.

 

Communication Suite uses Nokia’s Unified Core Network to process, connect and charge for calls, so operators can enjoy centralized control and end-users benefit by getting affordable, enhanced, flexible telephony services.

 

Loiola noted in Nokia’s announcements Wednesday that VoIP is already a fact of life for many consumers, and that the technology gives operators better control over their network resources.

 

“Nokia is embracing the vision of telecommunications that IP is making possible,” he said.