Nokia head complains about phone standards

A top technology executive of Nokia Corp., the world’s largest mobile phone manufacturer, called yesterday for Korea to introduce a single, globally recognized mobile phone software platform to facilitate its entry into the market.
Korea has long maintained “its own software platform, different from the global standard,” Tero Ojanpera, Chief Technology Officer of Nokia, told reporters at the three-day Seoul Digital Forum, which kicked off yesterday.
He noted the unique software standard of Korea keeps Nokia from entering the market despite its early efforts to gain a foothold there.
Under the current telecom regulations, almost all mobile phones sold here must have WIPI, a wireless Internet platform. The regulation was intended to enhance compatibility by requiring a single unified software.
However, the regulation has spawned complaints at home and abroad that it blocks the launch of cheaper handsets by obliging even mobile phones without Internet connectivity to carry the software.
Ojanpera said if Korea introduces a globally recognized software platform, it will benefit not just his company but also local mobile phone manufacturers, which he claims have to spend more to develop two different kinds of software for handsets sold here and those sold overseas.
Nokia entered the South Korean market in the late 1990s but withdrew in 2003 amid sluggish handset sales.
There have been rumors, however, that Nokia will reenter the market as the nation moves to launch a nationwide third-generation mobile communications service, which is expected to change the industry landscape.