Nokia Shanghai Bell eyes IoT opportunities

A woman walks past the stand of Shanghai Bell at an industry expo held in Beijing. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Nokia Shanghai Bell, a joint venture between leading telecom company Nokia Corp and a State-owned investment firm, said on Thursday that it will step up efforts to cash in on internet of things opportunities in sectors outside of its core telecom business in China.

The company said it will ramp up resources to explore opportunities in energy, transportation, public utilities, radio and television and other sectors that internet of things technology will revolutionize.

In May, Nokia signed agreements with State-owned investment company China Huaxin Post & Telecommunication Economy Development Center to create a joint venture. The joint venture, branded as Nokia Shanghai Bell, is designed to integrate Alcatel-Lucent Shanghai Bell and Nokia's China operations.

Nokia will own 50 percent plus one share of the new joint venture, with China Huaxin owning the remainder. The agreements are expected to close in July.

Mike Wang, Nokia Corp's president in China, said the upcoming 5G mobile communication technology will have a profound impact on different industries, which will create big opportunities.

According to market research firm Gartner, around 26 billion devices will be connected to the internet by 2020, and the internet of things market volume will exceed $1.9 trillion by then.

Tao Ranting, executive vice-president of Nokia Shanghai Bell, said Nokia has already helped connect 1.2 billion devices to the internet globally.

In China, it has built a network with local telecom carriers, which now manages around 8 million internet-connected devices.