Orange, Nokia in strategic deal in music, mobile gaming, maps, advertising

Orange and Nokia announced a strategic international partnership, extending the first agreement signed by the two companies in February who have committed to a three year partnership, which will include the addition of ten new Nokia handsets to the Orange Signature range and the addition of music to a combined offer of games, advertising, maps and location based services.

Orange and Nokia have agreed to launch a suite of integrated multimedia services on the new Nokia handsets, launching in H208 across nine major markets, in an initiative designed to boost the adoption of mobile digital entertainment. Customers will have direct access to the Orange Music Store, both Orange and NGage games, as well as Nokia Maps.

Under the agreement, the two companies will work jointly on marketing to support the launch of new devices and the development of multimedia applications. Nokia's Mobile Maps platform and GPS technology will be introduced to a wide portfolio of Nokia handsets in the Orange Signature range, allowing for navigation, location based search and advertising services. The two companies plan to create 10 mln active Mobile Maps users on Nokia devices within the Orange footprint by 2010.

Orange is the key brand of France Telecom, one of the world's leading telecoms operators that serves more than 172 mln customers in five continents. As of March 31, the Group had 111.9 mln mobile customers and 12 mln broadband internet (ADSL) customers. France Telecom is the number three mobile operator and the number one provider of broadband internet services in Europe and one of the world leaders in providing telecom services to multinational companies.

source:http://www.financialmirror.com