…changes logo, partners MTN to boost 5G expansion in South Africa

Nokia Corporation has announced plans to change its brand identity for the first time after 60 years of existence, complete with a new logo, in a move that signals aggressive growth push.

The Finnish multinational telecommunications, information technology, and consumer electronics corporation said the new logo, announced on Sunday, features five different shapes coming together to spell NOKIA. The font is sleeker and the classic shade of blue associated with the brand is replaced with a variety of colours depending on placement.

“There was the association to smartphones and nowadays we are a business technology company,” Pekka Laundmark, Nokia’s chief executive, told Reuters in an interview at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Barcelona which ended March 2.

Laundmark said after taking over the top job at the struggling Finnish company in 2020, he set out three stages: reset, accelerate, and scale. With the reset stage now complete, he said the second stage is beginning.

While Nokia still aims to grow its service provider business across the world, where it sells equipment to telecom companies, its main focus is now to sell gear to other businesses.

It has plans to review the growth path of its different businesses and consider alternatives, including divestment.

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On Monday, the Espoo-headquartered company announced it was joining forces with South Africa’s MTN in a move to boost the expansion of 5G in South Africa.

Nokia said it was selected by MTN South Africa for the first time ever as one of its 5G radio access network equipment providers, as the mobile carrier expands next-generation wireless services across the country.

“Under the deal, Nokia will modernise the existing 2G, 3G, 4G radio network and expand MTN’s 5G radio network across 2,800 sites in the central and eastern part of the country,” Nokia said in a statement.

MTN SA is part of MTN Group Limited, Africa’s largest mobile network operator with operations in 17 countries serving 272 million subscribers.

According to ‘Telecom talk’, the deal with MTN South Africa replaces incumbent supplier, strengthens partnership and increases Nokia’s market share.

Meanwhile, BusinessTech Africa also reported that Nokia Oyj, a Finnish 5G equipment supplier, has updated its emblem to avoid being associated with mobile phones, a market it left over a decade ago.

The brand refresh, launched on Sunday, is accompanied by a series of new strategic pillars aimed at enabling quicker development as the globe progressively embraces fifth-generation mobile technology.