Telecoms giant Nokia has signed a new patent cross-license agreement with Honor for an undisclosed sum.

As a result, the agreement covers fundamental inventions in 5G and other cellular technologies for both parties.

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Commenting on the partnership, Nokia Chief Licensing Officer Susanna Martikainen said: “We are delighted to have concluded an amicable patent cross-license agreement with Honor, one of the leading players in the Chinese smartphone market.”

Honor Head of Global Intellectual Property Wenyu Zhou added: “As both 5G SEP holder and implementor, Honor highly respects IP rights and strongly believes that reasonable value of IP is important to the development of the mobile industry.

“The conclusion of the patent cross-license agreement shows Honor’s commitment to innovation to enabling a smart life across all scenarios and all channels, for all people.”

The move marks Nokia’s fourth major litigation-free smartphone agreement over the past 12 months.

According to Martikainen it “highlights once again the strength of Nokia’s patent portfolio and decades-long contributions to cellular standards and other technologies.”

The news comes as Nokia revealed it is no longer expecting to hit its outlook for its 2023 financial full year due to renewal discussions continuing to drag on well into 2024.

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Nokia has revealed it is no longer expecting to hit its outlook for its 2023 financial full year due to renewal discussions continuing to drag on well into 2024.

The telecoms giant which is due to report its fourth quarter and full-year financials on 25 January, has said due to outstanding licence renewals in Nokia Technologies, which is expected to conclude last year, its net sales, comparable operating margin and free cash flow targets for the year won’t be met.

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In a statement, the mobile giant said: “While there have been intense negotiations between the relevant parties and courts around the world have found in Nokia’s favour, the company will prioritise protecting the value of its patent portfolio versus achieving certain timelines for resolution.”

Regarding its Q4 performance net sales “are expected to demonstrate a significant improvement sequentially.”

The company added: “The quarter has proved somewhat more challenging than expected given ongoing customer spending constraints and the recently communicated customer purchasing decision.

“Profitability in Nokia’s networks businesses is however expected to remain solidly within the comparable operating margin assumptions the company had previously communicated.”

The news comes as Nokia recently revealed it has lowered its comparable operating margin target to at least 13% by 2026 compared to a previous figure of 14%.

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Nokia has announced it is selling its device management and service management business to Lumine Group for £160 million.

The acquisition includes a payment of up to £30 million based on the business’s performance in the first year after the sale.

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The two platforms are primarily the result of previous acquisitions by mobile giant, namely Motive and mFormation.

Following the acquisition, the group will restore the Motive brand as the new corporate entity for the Device Management and Service Management Platform solutions as a stand-alone business unit within Lumine Group.

As a result, around 500 employees from Nokia’s Device Management and Service Management Platform will transfer to Lumine Group.

This transaction is expected to close in Q1 2024 and is subject to customary closing conditions.

Lumine Group Group President David Sharpley said: “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Device Management and Service Management Platform customers and employees to Lumine.

“As experienced corporate carve-out acquirers, our priority is to partner with Nokia to ensure a seamless transition and operational continuity for all customers.”

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Telecoms giant Nokia has revealed it has lowered its comparable operating margin target to at least 13% by 2026 compared to a previous figure of 14%.

As a result, the company stated it still aims to achieve the previous target, however, due to thee current market conditions in its mobile networks business, it was considered wise to make the revision.

The company added other targets remain unchanged.

In a statement, the company said: “Nokia still sees a path to achieving the at least 14% comparable operating margin target but considering the current market conditions in Mobile Networks, this is deemed a prudent change.”

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The move follows Nokia taking a hit after mobile phone service provider AT&T chose Ericsson to build a telecom network, open radio access network (ORAN) which will cover 70% of its wireless traffic in the United States by late 2026.

At the time, Nokia CEO marked the news as “disappointing”, but added that it was “fully committed” to Open RAN and had a strategy to diversify its business and improve profitability.

Instead, the company announced that it has signed an agreement to acquire Fenix Group, which specialises in tactical 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) communications solutions for the defense communities.

The move is set to allow Nokia to offer a more comprehensive suite of solutions to its defense customers.

Nokia President of Mobile Networks Tommi Uitto added: The acquisition of Fenix Group is an important milestone in our strategy to grow our defense business.

“We are excited to welcome Fenix to the Nokia family, and we look forward to working together to create a more stable world with high-performance, secure, and reliable communications solutions.”

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The strategic collaboration, which comes just a couple of weeks after consumer goods giant Reckitt Benckiser entered into a deal with Google Cloud, represents another major coup for Google. Nokia will shift its data centres, servers, and some software applications around the world onto the Cloud infrastructure.

Nokia hopes the agreement will drive meaningful operational efficiencies and cost savings through the reduction in real estate footprint, hardware energy consumption, and hardware capacity purchasing needs.

“Nokia is on a digital transformation path that is about fundamentally changing how we operate and do business. This is crucial for how our employees collaborate so that we continue to raise the bar on meeting the needs of our customers,” said Ravi Parmasad, Vice President of Global IT Infrastructure at Nokia. “We are very pleased that Google Cloud, with its engineering and operational excellence, is joining our transformation work to help us deliver on the many goals we have set. Given Nokia’s digital ambitions and plans, this is an ideal time for Nokia to be taking this step with Google Cloud to accelerate our efforts; and doing all of this in a secure and scalable way.”

Rob Enslin, President of Google Cloud, added: “We are excited to help Nokia revamp its IT infrastructure with our backbone network and our approach to data security, using advanced software-defined networking. We look forward to providing the full menu of our capabilities to help Nokia deliver on its cloud-first strategy and reach its performance requirements.”

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The Nokia 3.1 Plus is being sold through Cricket in blue. It features a 5.99-inch HD+ display, a 13-megapixel phase detection auto focus rear camera with a five-megapixel sensor, an eight-megapixel front camera, 2GB RAM, and 32GB storage. It is now available in Cricket retail stores and on CricketWireless.com at the price of $159.99.

Meanwhile, Verizon gets its hands on the Nokia 2 V. This device offers a 5.5-inch HD screen with dual front-facing stereo speakers, an eight-megapixel read camera, a five-megapixel front-facing camera, and 8GB of storage with support for MicroSD cards up to 128GB. Available in blue or silver, the phone will go on sale at Verizon stores and on VerizonWireless.com from 31 January.

On top of those two collaborations, HMD has also linked up with Rogers to release an exclusive phone in Canada under the communications company’s mobile virtual network operator, Chatr, ‘very soon’.

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Massive MIMO technology works by sending multiple beams of data from an antenna to devices, increasing performance and enhancing capacity with the ability to serve more users simultaneously. It makes use of the additional 2.3GHz spectrum that O2 secured earlier this year during the spectrum auction. Telefonica-owned O2 was the only UK network to secure extra 2.3GHz capacity to boost its existing network.

The two pilot antenna will be deployed at Kings Cross and Marble Arch, two areas with high data traffic that will benefit from the boosted coverage whilst also enabling O2 to evaluate the technology for future deployment in urban areas. Over 95m people travel through the Kings Cross St Pancras area every year, and over 14m passed through the Marble Arch area in 2017.

“We recognise that customers need for mobile data in London and other urban areas continues to grow at a rapid pace,” said Brendan OReilly, chief technology officer for Telefonica UK. “This is why we are working with Nokia to trail Massive MIMO and to explore the opportunities to provide the increased capacity and denser coverage for our customers, in the areas they need it most. Whether trialling 5G or ensuring the remotest parts of rural Britain can connect to 4G, O2 is committed to building a truly mobile Britain.”

In addition to enhancing current network capacity, the pilot scheme will lay the foundation for 5G, with Massive MIMO technology expected to help deliver the demand for increased data usage that is expected once the 5G rollout begins. Demand for data has continued to increase in recent years, with the average mobile user consuming 1.9GB a month last year.

“Nokia is proud to work closely with Telefonia UK to help cater for their customers needs for greater capacity and densification in key areas,” said Paul Kander, manager of Telefonica UKs account at Nokia. “Nokias Massive MIMO technology, in conjunction with Telefonicas investment in new spectrum will considerably enhance and increase the capacity of Telefonicas network and directly address customer demands, ensuring an ever-greater customer experience.”

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Nokia’s video product portfolio – including its caching and streaming products, origin and store technology, and stream personalisation software – will move to Volaris. Meanwhile, the majority of Nokia’s IP video business employees will transition to the newly-formed company called ‘Velocix’.

“We are excited to be part of the new company under the Velocix brand that set out to transform the video landscape back in 2002,” said Paul Larbey, head of the IP video business at Nokia. “Through several acquisitions the name changed, but the purpose remains the same: to enable big changes in the video market, to make video more personal and to enable a highly compelling entertainment experience for consumers on every screen.”

The Finnish telecoms company will remain a minority shareholder in the new company and become a global channel partner to it, enabling Nokia to sell and support Velocix solutions. Nokia will retain elements of its video unit including integration business and associated employees. The deal is expected to close during Q4 2018.

“Video plays a very important role in our customers’ strategies, both as it relates to their services and the demands it places on their networks,” said Basil Alwan, co-president of IP/optical networks at Nokia. “Meanwhile, the technology behind video – including user experience, content packaging and delivery – continues to go through meaningful shifts. Our new partnership enables us to adapt and grow in this important period; together we can better navigate change while providing continuity for our customers.”

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As part of the agreement, Nokia will provide T-Mobile with its complete end-to-end 5G technology, software and services portfolio. T-Mobile will use the Finnish telecoms company’s equipment to build a 5G network across the US with 600 MHz and 28 GHz millimetre wave 5G capabilities.

“We are all in on 5G,” said Neville Ray, chief technology officer at T-Mobile. “Every dollar we spend is a 5G dollar, and our agreement with Nokia underscores the kind of investment we’re making to bring customers a mobile, nationwide 5G network.”

The deal will see T-Mobile leverage Nokia’s commercial AirScale radio platforms and cloud-native core, AirFrame hardware, CloudBand software, SON, and 5G Acceleration Services. Utilising this gear, the pair aim to develop, test, and launch services that will cover enterprise, smart cities, utilities, transportation, health, manufacturing, retail, agriculture, and government agencies.

“Nokia and T-Mobile will advance the large-scale deployment of 5G services throughout the United States,” said Ashish Chowdhary, chief customer operations officer at Nokia.

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Under the memorandum of understanding, the duo will setup an end-to-end 5G test environment in Shenzhen, China. Here, they will leverage the more than 1bn monthly active users on WeChat and QQ combined to test and roll out 5G services.

“We are pleased to collaborate with Nokia to leverage the technologies, products and expertise of both our companies to fufill the growing demands of a digital economy driven by 5G,” said Zeng Yu, VP at Tencent. “Tencent and Nokia are fully committed to delivering richer, more diverse, multi-level services and applications for enterprises, and individual customers. Furthermore, we will support each other in creating more financial and social benefits in our respective fields, to pursue success in the new era of digital economy.”

Research will be conducted into 5G using technologies such as edge computing, which can benefit areas including transportation, finance, energy, intelligent manufacturing, and entertainment.

In addition, Nokia and Tencent will look to utilise the artificial intelligence and automation management capabilities that 5G will enable in order to promote international standards and an open-source ecosystem.

“This collaboration with Tencent is an important step in showing webscale companies around the globe how they can leverage the end-to-end capabilities of Nokias 5G Future X portfolio,” said Marc Rouanne, president of mobile networks at Nokia. “Working with them we can deliver a network that will allow them to extend their service offer to deliver myriad applications and services with the high-reliability and availability to support ever-growing and changing customer demands.”

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