The world’s largest mobile phone company Nokia is to introduce a new subscription service that enables mobile users to buy a Nokia device with a year of unlimited access to millions of music tracks.
Once the year is complete, the handset owners can keep their music without worrying if it will disappear when the subscription ends.
Speaking at the annual Nokia World conference in Amsterdam yesterday, Nokia president and CEO Olli-Pekka Kaasvuo told delegates that the industry was at the dawn of a new era in mobile communications – driven by the rapid convergence of the internet and mobility.
Nokia, he said, was setting the pace of change. “But with market leadership in an industry of this scale also comes responsibility,” he said.
“We are committed to taking a leading role in increasing environmental awareness and performance right across the industry, creating further products and services that help people make more sustainable choices. It is both the responsible thing to do and it makes good business sense.”
Commenting on the new music service Anssi Vanjoki, vice-president and manager of multimedia at Nokia, said that even if a user listened to music 24 hours a day, seven days a week, he or she wouldn’t scratch the surface of the music that will be available.
The new service – entitled ‘Comes With Music’ – will launch with Universal Music Group International and Nokia says it is in discussion with the remaining major international labels.
“We feel it’s an innovative way for people to discover and enjoy new artists, while at the same time having access to the amazing depth of the Universal catalogue,” said Lucian Grainge, chairman and CEO of Universal.
“Comes With Music allows our artists to reach new audiences in a very easy and affordable way.”
Nokia also gave further details of the upcoming Ovi Internet services environment. Ovi, meaning ‘door’ in Finnish, enables consumers to easily access their existing social network and content, acting as a dashboard to a person’s life.
“Ovi combines the mobile, PC and web environments into an easy-to-use experience with common user interface elements that provide consistency and simplicity,” said Vanjoki.
“We started the Ovi services rollout with the individual services in navigation, music and games, and the next step is to provide an integrated experience. The complete Ovi environment and new services will be rolled out continuously throughout 2008.”
Vanjoki also outlined the company’s environmental sustainability strategy, highlighted by the launch of the Nokia 3110 Evolve, a mobile phone that is made from 50pc renewable material and a charger that uses 94pc less energy than the Energy Star requirements.
The company said the power that could be saved globally by all Nokia phone users unplugging their chargers when no longer needed is equivalent to enough energy to power 100,000 average-size European homes.
In February 2006, Nokia also introduced new compact packaging that reduced materials used by 54pc, a move which by the end of this year will have resulted in 5,000 fewer trucks needed to distribute products, reducing fuel consumption and carbon emissions, and savings of €100m.
By John Kennedy
