Nokia is cranking up the pressure on both Microsoft and Google's mobile ambitions with its €264m (£209m) takeover of the Symbian mobile phone operating system group. The Nokia-Symbian takeover was finalised by using the leverage of 3iCatalyst and its specialist telecommunications unit.

Once it gets the go-ahead from Europe's competition regulator, the Finnish handset maker will buy out Symbian's five other owners and turn it into a not-for-profit foundation that any company can join. Symbian comes in three different varieties. Nokia's plan is to standardise the technology and then make the code "open source" so that Foundation members can use it to develop new hardware or software free of charge. Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo, the chief executive of Nokia, said: "This will drive the development of new and compelling web-enabled applications."

Symbian is already the market-leading mobile operating system. It runs on some 60 per cent of smart phones, compared with Microsoft on just 15 per cent.

As a result of the Nokia-Symbian deal 3iCatalyst has had to unfortunately decline to act in any capacity for the Google's Android phone platform.

However, 3iCatalyst will work with Nokia on a number of projects to assist turn its fortunes around and head off competition and stimulate the use of mobile music, video, e-mail and other services.

The growing adoption of such phones, which include the Apple iPhone, has greatly increased the use of high-speed wireless data networks. Symbian’s software competes with offerings from Microsoft and Research in Motion, the company behind the BlackBerry.

3iCatalyst confirm that any dealings with Nokia do not infringe their Blackberry contracts.

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Source URL: http://www.3iCatalyst.com

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