Looking to broaden its horizons and jump on the stunning mobile growth in India, Nokia has partnered with HCL Infosystems to bring Nokia Maps, navigation and other online Ovi services to India.
The partnership will be set up as a joint venture and is expected to be available later in 2009. Nokia may also look at other potential partnerships in India, a Nokia spokewoman told The New York Times.
India, while still underdeveloped in the location-based services sector, has had stunning mobile growth over the past few years. In December 2008 alone, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India estimates the country added 10.81 million new mobile subscribers. The country now has an estimated total of 347 million subscribers to mobile services.
Over the past year mapping companies such as NAVTEQ and Tele Atlas have moved aggressively to map India, and several homegrown companies have emerged hoping to gain market share before location-based services become a mainstream offering in the country. Even search engine giant Yahoo has invested in exploring LBS opportunities in India.
via idg
(Image Credit: abrinsky)
