Nokia planning Japanese MVNO

Nokia is reportedly mulling plans to launch a branded MVNO service in Japan sometime in the spring of 2009. Citing unnamed sources, Japanese daily Yomiuri Shimbun reports the handset giant will lease network capacity from Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo to offer voice and data services--Nokia will initially target well-heeled consumers via its luxury Vertu device brand. Nokia controls less than 1 percent of handset marketshare in Japan, which is dominated by rivals including Sharp, Matsushita and NEC, although DoCoMo and fellow operator Softbank do carry some Nokia devices. Yomiuri Shimbun adds that any phones offered by the Nokia MVNO would not be compatible with DoCoMo's i-mode mobile web platform.

For more on Nokia's MVNO prospects:
- read this Cellular-News article

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