Nokia is currently the world’s leading mobile phone manufacturer; they are responsible for a solid chunk of Finland’s GNP (over 1%) and currently play a very important role in the mobile phone industry. Nokia was one of the companies to help develop GSM technology, and they have contributed greatly to the development of CDMA and computer technology. Also, while many may not know it, Fujitsu’s original facilities were purchased from Nokia’s IT and computer department. The now-defunct MikroMikko series is still being produced by Fujitsu under the ErgoPro label.
While the world recognizes Nokia for its role in the mobile phone industry as a manufacturer, the Finnish company is also a major player in various industries in the realm of telecommunications.
King of the Hill
Right now, Nokia is considered to be foremost and leading expert in the field of mobile communication. Their contributions to data and voice transmission technology have allowed the industry to move at great speeds. As said, Nokia was heavily involved in the implementation of GSM or Global System for Mobile Communications. Wikipedia credits the company as a key developer for GSM technology. Some would even argue that if not for Nokia, CDMA would have the norm for a much longer time.
GSM technology back then proved to be very promising and held lots of potential,most importantly, it was easy to set up with existing technology which would later allow many countries to adapt to using GSM for mobile communications.
GSM Technology
GSM is considered to be the second generation mobile phone technology. Nokia has had plenty of experience with Nordic Mobile Telephony (NMT) which is considered to be the world’s first telephony standard which enabled roaming capabilities. Thanks to Nokia’s contributions to the technology, GSM became the new European Standard for digital mobile technology in 1987. By 1989, Nokia had helped established the Finnish GSM network Radiolinja. Thanks to the stability and efficiency of GSM networks, it is being used in many countries all over the world even until this very day. Despite advancements in 3G (and more recently, 4G technology), many countries still rely on using GSM networks (such as China).
Nokia and the Future of Mobile Phone Technology
Until this very day, Nokia continues to manufacture mobile phones for both 2G GSM and 3G UMTS/HSPA networks. Each new product shows the best hardware and features that can be squeezed into the device, a testament to Nokia’s mobile engineering prowess. The Finnish company has strong ties with Symbian and many Nokia phone employ the use of the Symbian OS. With a majority of Nokia’s N-series using Symbian OS 9.0 (with the exception of N90i, N70 and N72 which use Symbian 8.1). The only N-series phones that do not use the Symbian OS are the Maemo-based N800, N810 and N900 mobile phones.
2010 is promising to be a very exciting year for Nokia as the company has confirmed that they will be releasing a series of GSM devices for next year that includes devices that are budget-friendly alternatives to music phones and GPS phones. Their Ovi store service provides GPS support, music, news, media sharing and even Nokia’s very own application store.
