Original URL: https://www.theregister.com/2008/11/24/nokia_network_operator/

Nokia to become virtual network for Vertu

New biz model for luxury phone wing

By James Sherwood

Posted in Personal Tech, 24th November 2008 12:33 GMT

Nokia will this month announce its intention to launch a network services division in 2009, it has been claimed.

Japanese-language website Yomiuri Shimbun has reported that the Finnish phone giant will initially launch the service in Japan during February 2009.

The country currently has three main network providers: NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and SoftBank. Nokia’s expected to rent wireless communication networks from DoCoMo, the paper alleged.

However, Nokia network connections may initally be restricted to Vertu phones - Nokia’s luxury handset arm.