With all the attention lately having been on the Apple iPhone and Google’s announced Android mobile phone platform, Nokia and Vodafone have announced a partnership which will combine Vodafone Live mobile service’s with Nokia’s Ovi platform. The integrated suite will appear on Nokia handsets, and, in turn, Vodafone will get exclusivity on selected Nokia phones.
“We’re pleased do be working with Nokia in leading the industry to bring customers a complete suite of Vodafone communications, browsing, content and Internet services” said Vodafone’s global chief marketing officer Frank Rovekamp, in a statement. “This is a logical step for Vodafone to make, further improving our customer experience with many of the services already launched with leading Internet partners.”
The two companies are hoping the combined suite of services will make their solutions more compelling than competing phones and service bundles. Vodafone has previously resisted partnering with other companies on mobile content services, preferring to keep its mobile content offering in house. Mobile operators have also been wary of Nokia’s Ovi platform, since it essentially competes with content services already in place with mobile phone operators. In its deal with Vodafone, Nokia hopes to show Ovi con complement existing services, rather than compete with them.
Under the deal, Vodafone will reportedly get its mobile music service touted more prominently than Nokia’s own music offerings through Ovi. Other operators, however, may not be able to negotiate such sweet deals with Nokia for their own services, since Vodafone is likely the be Nokia’s largest customer in Europe; hence, Nokia is likely to give more ground to Vodafone than any other mobile operator.
