Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NOK) Plans Separate Security Unit

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Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) is rolling out a fresh unit in June that will develop more secure mobile broadband products as well as new business models for telco security. Nokia is targeting mobile broadband as its source of revenue after selling off its device business to Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT). On June 1, the company will have a new security unit to enhance its plans to boost related revenue from telcos.

Rival Alcatel made a similar move before

Marc Rouanne, EVP of mobile broadband at Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V), said in a statement that the new security unit will integrate security expertise and talent across the company, customer operations, global services, and its technology and innovation team to track the full set of requirements for speedy telco security.

“We will continue to encourage industry dialogue and knowledge sharing in terms of security research to improve awareness of this crucially important area of telco business, including with open source software,” the EVP added. Rouanne further said that this will become very important as mobile broadband evolves toward the cloud.

Earlier, rival Alcatel Lucent examined the prospects of selling cyber-security services to defense contractor Thales, and now Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) is making a similar move. The Finnish company recently launched its mobile broadband security center in Berlin, where security in multi-vendor mobile broadband environments is tested.

Cyber-security prospects for Nokia

Further, the new unit will enhance its security partner’s ecosystem that includes Juniper, the OpenSSL project, Check Point and F-Secure among others.

Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V) in April also donated funds to the OpenSSL project to help prevent bugs like Heartbleed. Until 2008, Nokia sold security appliances. Then it sold that business to Check Point in 2008. Recently a new product called Mobile Guard was launched for operators that analyze mobile network traffic to identify devices with suspected malware.

Presently Nokia Corporation (ADR) (NYSE:NOK) (BIT:NOK1V) (HEL:NOK1V)’s three important segments include its mapping business, HERE, its patent and R&D arm known as Technologies, and its networking unit. According to Nokia’s first quarter earnings report, mobile broadband made up 54% of its networks revenue. Nokia’s 2014 customer Acquisition and Retention Study Report reveal that around 75% of customers consider security to be the operator’s responsibility. It also suggested that a substantial number of subscribers will opt for another subscriber in case of any security issues.

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