Nokia to take on mobile broadband market

The world's top mobile maker Nokia plans to tap the surging market for connecting laptops to mobile broadband networks taking on market leader Huawei, a senior official said.

Nokia will start to ship its first 3G dongle in early 2009, Tapio Markki, vice president for hardware platform components at Nokia, told Reuters.

"The market for HSPA modems is expected to grow very rapidly during the coming years," Markki said.

Nokia declined to comment on the price of the HSPA device, saying it will be sold mostly through operators and bundled with services.

Broadband from A to Z

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A is for ADSL
B is for BT
C is for Cable & Wireless
D is for Dial-up
E is for Education
F is for Fibre
G is for Goonhilly
H is for HSDPA
I is for In-flight
J is for Janet
K is for Kingston
L is for Landlines
M is for Murdoch
N is for Next generation
O is for Ofcom
P is for Power lines
Q is for Quad-play
R is for Remote working
S is for Satellite phones
T is for Trains
U is for Unbundling
V is for VoIP
W is for WiMax
X is for Xbox
Y is for YouTube
Z is for Zombies

Strategy Analytics said it expects the global market for dongles - external USB modems and PC cards - to grow to 26 million units next year from 20 million this year.

Neil Mawston from Strategy Analytics said: "In particular, European operators such as Vodafone are aggressively promoting and subsidising dongles right now, because they are seen as a secondary device that provides additional revenues for carriers beyond a traditional handset."

Nokia tried to enter into the business of connecting laptops to wireless networks in late 2006 when it said it had developed an embedded 3G module for laptop computers, which Intel agreed to sell as part of its next-generation Centrino Duo mobile technology platform.

But in early 2007, Nokia and Intel made a joint decision to cease co-operation on the connectivity module.