Nokia ups efforts in China

Nokia has announced plans to boost its research investments in China, as it continues to step up its focus on the Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) standard for mobile phones.

The company on Friday said its plans in China include creating a new post-doctoral programme, a division for open standards and technology localisation, and a research and development centre for CDMA technology. CDMA is the most popular standard used in mobile phones in the US but many countries in the Asia-Pacific region also have begun to embrace it.

The company's post-doctoral programme, which received approval from the Chinese ministry of personnel, will tap Chinese researchers to work on various technologies, such as Asian user interfaces, Chinese mobile applications and third-generation and Internet Protocol Version 6 equipment.

The proposed Nokia unit for open standards and technologies will work closely with the Chinese academic and developer communities. Through the existing Forum Nokia programme, the developer community will contribute to the standardisation and licensing of Nokia Series 60 and Java technologies. In addition, the number of Chinese universities that are working on technology for the Symbian mobile operating system will rise to 10 from the existing five, Nokia said.

To tap a growing CDMA market in China, the company plans to open a new CDMA research facility for developing and providing software and technical input to cell phone operators in the country. The centre, the second that Nokia has opened in Asia in less than one month, will debut in June. The company opened a CDMA centre in Mumbai, India, at the end of April.

The handset maker also has plans to increase design and production of mobile phones at its Beijing-based Nokia Product Creation Center. About 40 per cent of the company's global Mobile Phones business group handsets will soon be designed and developed at this centre, Nokia said.

Nokia already has a large-scale presence in China, with four production and five research facilities. Its Beijing Product Creation Center was behind the design and development of some of the company's more successful handset models, such as the N2100 and the N6108.