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Nokia and Potevio joint venture to start making 3G equipment in 1Q 2007

By: , IntoMobile
Monday, December 25th, 2006 at 8:54 PM

A China-based joint venture between Nokia and Potevio, formally known as China Putian Corp, is expected to start production of 3G (third generation) mobile telecoms network equipment in the first quarter of next year.

But a scandal hitting Siemens, which has been planning to merge its network business with that of Nokia, could add an element of uncertainty to the Nokia-Potevio joint venture, based in Wuhan, the capital of Central China’s Hubei Province.

With an investment of 900 million yuan (US$115 million), Nokia and Potevio signed a deal in October 2005 to form the 51-49 joint venture to jointly develop 3G mobile telecoms equipment based on the China’s home-grown TD-SCDMA standard and European-initiated WCDMA.

The two firms had expected the joint venture to start production in 2006, but the establishment of the joint venture has been dogged by some legal issues. The National Development and Reform Commission gave the nod to the establishment of the joint venture in May.

Tao Xiongqiang, vice-president of Potevio and chairman of the Nokia-Potevio joint venture, said he hoped the venture could start manufacturing 3G equipment in the first quarter of next year at the earliest.

"The factory is already up and we will soon move our staff and equipment into the factory," he said.

But the joint venture may become a casualty of an ongoing bribery investigation involving Siemens. Nokia and Siemens had agreed to combine their network businesses, to create a new company called Nokia-Siemens Networks, which was supposed to be finalized on January 1, 2007.

Source: People’s Daily Online

Can someone explain to me how the Nokia Siemens scandal affect this JV in China? I’m horribly confused. Well anyway congrats to Nokia for finally getting something out of this merger which they’ve been sitting on for 14 months.

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About The Author

Stefan Constantinescu

Stefan Constantinescu (@WhatTheBit on Twitter) has loved technology since as far back as he can remember. It started with computers, but in the past few years his passion has turned to mobile devices. As a mobile phone enthusiast who lives and breathes devices that connect to the internet, he knows he is not alone with this radical fascination of all things wireless. He is strongly opinionated and enjoys a good debate so leave comments in his posts and he’ll get back to you! Stefan began blogging as a hobby in the fall of 2006 and joined IntoMobile in the summer of 2007. Later he got a job at Nokia in March 2008, but as of June 2009 he has rejoined the IntoMobile team. He is currently based out of Helsinki, Finland.

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