Nokia to provide telecom services

NEW DELHI, INDIA: World's largest handset manufacturer, Nokia, is gearing up to reposition itself from being a device maker to a services and solutions provider.

The service and solutions from Nokia would range from music downloads to games to financial services. It would also include providing information about prices and weather to the Indian farmers among many others.

"Services is next big thing...we see people living their life 24x7 through applications on their mobile phones. Whether it is Twitter or Facebook, people live their life online," PTI quotes D Shivakumar, Nokia India managing director, as saying.

The company has already inked a location-based service deal with social networking site Facebook. Under the deal, people could update their location and status directly to the social networking site via a Nokia Ovi account.

It has also planned to enter the money market, with the launch of 'Nokia Money Service'- offering basic financial services on mobile phones- by next year.

"The service would enable consumers to send money, pay for goods, services and bills, and recharge their prepaid SIM cards using their mobile phone," Shivakumar said.