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INTERVIEW:
Janne Jormalainen, General Manager, Wireless Data & Technology
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Judith Berck, Editor, GSM Data Today, October 6, 1998.
Janne Jormalainen spoke with GSM Data Today about Nokia's products related to data computing with laptops, marketing of data products and services in Asia, and Nokia's involvement with two-plus and 3rd generation mobile technologies.
GDT: Nokia is a world leader in data products. For a few months now, you’ve been selling the Nokia Card Phone, which is a PC card with a built-in GSM phone. How's the uptake been?
JJ: Generally it’s been great. There’ s a lot of excitement around the product. In the laptop market, there are some key things related to the Card Phone. I think the operators themselves have seen that the Card Phone has quite a lot of potential, because it’s an easy solution for corporate IT. You don’t need to worry about what kind of a handset you use, or whether you use this brand or that brand, or that data card or that cable or whatever. It’s a standardized data solution, which is key for corporate IT because the support is the most expensive part. The other thing is that people find it very convenient to use and set up, because it has a Windows* user interface.
The operators have come up with things like giving a free, second SIM [Subscriber Identity Module] card, so that you can actually have a SIM card in the Card Phone all the time. You don’t need to take the SIM card or the Card Phone out of your laptop. It’ s an immediately accessible data solution. That’ s what’ s been happening in Hong Kong, for example, with the operators there.
GDT: So you’ll have a SIM for your card and a SIM for your mobile hand phone?
JJ: That’s right. There are also a lot of promotional activities, like giving lower data tariffs when you buy the Card Phone. From the computer vendors’ point of view, we have done a number of bundles in the Asia Pacific Region, in a number of the countries around here. There’s a lot of excitement, because it gives a totally new mobility environment to the computer users.
GDT: Is there going to be a version of the card phone that can be used in the U.S.?
JJ: We haven’t announced a Nokia Card Phone for the U.S. market at the moment.
GDT: On another topic, of all the wireless data users, what percentage is using notebooks as opposed to other devices?
JJ: That’s a very difficult question to answer because the markets in Asia vary very much. The usage of hardware depends also on applications. In some applications a laptop with GSM connectivity is preferred and in applications like e-mail, the Nokia Communicator is rapidly being implemented.
GDT: What kinds of collaborations have you established to promote data usage with notebook computers?
JJ: To give one brief example, we just had a promotion with IBM here in Singapore. If you bought an IBM Thinkpad* 560, you got the Nokia Card Phone for free. We have a number of other promotional activities that have been ongoing with a number of PC brands and operators as well.
GDT: What kinds of applications are business users using with notebooks and Nokia products?
JJ: The vast majority is e-mail and fax. Just as the mobile phone has become a preferred means of communication when making voice calls, when people communicate through e-mail or have data usage needs, they want to take that into the mobile environment as well. It’s a natural evolution.
I think there is a market for notebooks as well as a market for the Communicator type of product, and all these other devices. In my mind, the applications are a bit different in these different market sectors. One of the drivers with notebooks is that you have the same applications you’d have in a normal desktop PC environment. So, for example, I carry a notebook PC, and I use Microsoft PowerPoint* and all these other very processor-intensive, memory-intensive programs and applications that run on that sort of platform. But, I see PDAs or Communicators as being more communications-centric rather than data processing-centric, applications. I certainly don’t see at all these products replacing each other. They complement each other.
GDT: Nokia is very involved in development of second-plus generation and third generation technologies. Could you give some idea of what 3G applications might look like involving notebooks?
JJ: To me the notebook is like taking the PC you have on your office desk with you and making it small enough to carry. In the office, you have all the capabilities in the LAN, like Internet, e-mail. What GSM offers is the same kind of connectivity in the mobile environment as what you have in the office environment. When we go to 3rd Generation, and have data speeds up to two megabits per second, then you have a whole new world of capabilities with your notebook.
GDT: Can you tell me what Nokia’s currently doing with HSCSD technology?
Nokia has been one of the driving forces in terms of the standardization and technology development related to HSCSD. We are already in process with a number of our operator partners upgrading their networks to support HSCSD capabilities. Just to give you two examples, a local operator here in Singapore called Mobile One is upgrading their network. In Europe, the Sonera Corporation in Finland is doing the same.
HSCSD is something Nokia sees being commercially available next year. And we certainly see that that’s taking mobile data applications to a totally different level than today.
GDT: What can users look forward to?
JJ: We can work off all of the same applications that we have in the LAN environment already, and leverage from those PC-based applications that require a higher data rate.
GDT: Regarding the Asia Pacific region, are there any particular markets that stand out in terms of laptops being used with data services and Nokia products?
JJ: If you want to analyze what markets are the most advanced in terms of penetration of mobile data use, those probably would be the markets with the highest cellular penetration in general. The obvious examples are places like Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
GDT: Where do you guess might be next?
JJ: I think all the countries are heading in that direction. But the different countries are in different stages of development in terms of cellular penetration. In India and China, the penetration rate is currently very small as these countries are just coming on line in terms of data. But I think the potential for some of these markets including China is huge.
GDT: What is the biggest challenge in promoting the use of data services as opposed to voice services?
JJ: That’s a very good question. These things are application-driven, from the point of view that we have to be fulfilling a need that the consumer or businessperson has. We need to make the person who uses these services more productive or more efficient, and really offer them some sort of a benefit. The applications are more or less there. The products are more or less there. The networks are also there. Now when you look at putting that all together, a lot of people simply don’t realize that’s possible and how it easy it is. That’s a limitation in the corporate environment, because some of the corporations perhaps feel that it may require major investments or changes in their IT systems. It’s very much a technology adaptation issue.
GDT: What are some of the corporate IT concerns you hear?
JJ: Investment is a concern that any IT manager would have when they implement new technology. It’s been pretty eye opening for many of them to actually start going through some of these investments, because the investments are really not that big. And you can start with almost no investment at all, and expand as you go. That’s the compelling thing for the many corporations that are adopting mobile data.
GDT: Regarding third generation technology, we understand Nokia has been trialing Wideband CDMA in Japan. Can you describe those trials?
JJ: Yes. We announced in early September that we conducted the first Wideband CDMA call in our laboratory in Japan using a Nokia terminal, together with our partner there, NTT DoCoMo.
Nokia has been developing 3rd Generation technology since the early 1990s and testing of the technology is an important step towards the full commercial implementation of the technology. In fact we have also recently announced that we have already conducted a Wideband CDMA trial in China using Nokia infrastructure and terminals.
GDT: What are the objectives of the trials?
JJ: First of all, to make sure that all the elements are compatible, and that everybody has the same understanding of the standards and so forth. Secondly, to develop the technology further. Wideband CDMA is still not at the commercial level. We’re developing the technology so that it will be available commercially around year 2001.
GDT: What key learnings are you hoping to get from the trials?
JJ: A natural thing to do is test what has been developed so far together with the technology partners. The next step is ongoing – to continue to develop the technology and trials as well.
But that’s technology-related. We so easily in this industry lose the sight of the fact that consumers really don’t want technology -- they want the benefits of the applications. Applications are something I see as being a really major issue and major development area. We have to evolve both the technology and the applications. And introduce these new features to our customers. The applications and the terminal-driven things are our key issues, and we have been working on them for many years.
GDT: Is the technology being trialed going to be backward compatible with the current infrastructure, and with upcoming two-plus technologies such as GPRS?
JJ: The answer is yes. The 3rd Generation in the GSM world is really an evolution of the core GSM technology. In reality, this means that the 3rd Generation really doesn’t only start in 2002, but the first introductions of the new generation services and benefits will already be enjoyed in 1999 with the introduction of HSCSD (High Speed Data), and then continuing to GPRS, and EDGE and so forth. So the network investment is very safe. We are upgrading the GSM networks to support the higher data rates. This evolution is backward compatible in the sense that 3G terminals will operate on a platform that evolves from current infrastructure.
GDT: What is the likelihood in your mind of having a single, global third generation standard?
JJ: That’s not an easy question to answer, because of the fact that we have four different digital standards at the moment. And obviously the operators are looking to develop those further as well.
From Nokia’s point of view, one of the driving forces for 3rd Generation is that has to be an open standard with non-discriminatory IPR policies. The success of GSM has proven that when the standard is open there can be a lot of manufacturers competing in terms of technology and services. That’s proven to be the winning contract. For the third generation, we are certainly looking forward to the same contract.
The other thing is that I don’t think that we can technologically choose to have something which is less than what operators and our customers want. We need to be striving to have all the features and functions in the standard that our user community wants. In our mind, if there can be a single standard that really fulfills these requirements, we would very much welcome that. On the other hand, if there cannot be a standard that fulfills those requirements, then I guess we will have a number of standards.
GDT: Changing the subject, have this year’s fiscal developments altered wireless uptake in the Asia Pacific region or altered Nokia’s plans?
JJ: They certainly haven’t changed our plans at all in terms of investing in the market and so forth. In terms of mobile data, what we are creating is an environment where you have higher productivity and higher efficiency in companies. I personally feel that corporations in any kind of economic climate would invest in that kind of technology.
* Brands and names are property of their respective owners.
© 1998 Intel Corporation. Judith Berck is an employee of Intel corporation.