Nokia has won a unified device management contract with the Finnish ICT company Elisa. The new Nokia Unified Device Management solution complements Elisa’s existing device management offering by enabling Elisa to provide device management services remotely for their corporate customers.

Today, mobile devices support advanced services such as multimedia messaging, mobile email and calendar synchronization, which can be accessed only when the device is configured with the correct settings.

Nokia Unified Device Management Solution not only simplifies the configuration process, but now also enables Elisa to remotely install, update and remove software from the mobile devices reducing the need for manual work, which is costly and time-consuming. It also makes it possible to backup critical data and restore it later. Nokia Unified Device Management Solution is fully multivendor capable, supporting currently over 800 different handset models. The number of supported models is growing rapidly.

This is Nokia’s first deal with focus on device management for corporate customers. Nokia is providing Elisa with a complete solution, based on Elisa’s existing Nokia Terminal Management Server (NTMS) and Nokia’s Intellisync Device Management providing enterprise services. NTMS enables Elisa to send and update mobile settings over-the-air. Nokia customizes the solution for Elisa and integrates it to Elisa’s existing system. Nokia will also provide care services for the solution.

“Nokia’s Unified Device Management solution is a strategically important investment that will help us to strengthen Elisa’s position as a provider of productivity services to business customers. In addition to services for mobile work, such as mobile e-mail, we can also offer outsourced terminals and their management services to ensure excellent end-user experience, control and security,” says Anssi Okkonen, Vice President, Service Offering, Elisa.

“Device management has become a business critical function for enterprises deploying mobile solutions, so there is tremendous potential for operators in the device management business,” says Jyrki Holmala, Vice President, Networks, Nokia. “This deal highlights Nokia’s unique position, where we can provide device management solutions that benefit from Nokia’s end-to-end understanding from terminals to enterprise and network solutions, and services.”

Nokia provides a full range of support and services to help operators differentiate and innovate their mobile offerings, with close to 20 years’ experience in the field. Nokia leads the service management market with over 80 clients globally.

TeliaSonera yesterday recorded net sales of SEK2.8bn (ВЈ209m) at its mobile division in its home market of Sweden in the first quarter, flat on the same period a year earlier.

Although the operator’s Swedish mobile subscriber base increased to 4.4 million at the end of March, average revenue per user (ARPU) dropped from SEK205 in the first quarter 2005 to SEK199 in 2006.

In Finland TeliaSonera recorded sales of SEK2.2bn, down from SEK2.6bn in the first quarter 2005. Finnish ARPU also fell from SEK31.90 in the first quarter of 2005 to SEK27.30 in 2006. The Finnish mobile subscriber base climbed to 2.5 million at the end of March.