Nokia's Indian Plans For Ovi

Nokia (NYSE: NOK) plans to roll out Ovi in India in the first half of this year, an indication that the handset behemoth doesn’t see the country just as a good market for its low-end phones. There’s a couple of things different… The Economic Times article doesn’t mention a carrier tie-up — rather Nokia will promote the service through its retail presence, setting up the Ovi brand in its Nokia Priority stores and also seeking a presence in multi-brand outlets. The business model will be a combination of subscription and advertising, and Nokia plans to make Ovi available to any internet-capable device including, presumably, handsets from rival manufacturers. ContentSutra has of course done a good job of covering the deals with Infomedia for yellow page services, the South India Music Companies Association (SIMCA) for music and other music labels.