Nokia and Alcatel merger could speed up 5G and Internet of Things

<div xmlns='http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml'><div xmlns='http://bit.ly/16Db7GR'><img alt="Nokia and Alcatel merger could speed up 5G and Internet of Things" src="http://ift.tt/1E1uzfu"/><br/><br /><p>Mobile handset makers Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent have announced plans to merge, a move that could speed up the arrival of technologies including 5G and the so-called <a href="http://ift.tt/1aqTPOK">Internet of Things</a>.</p><br /><br/><br /><p>Worth $16.6 billion (around US$24 billion or AUS$211 billion), the deal will bring together Bell Labs and Nokia Futureworks, two innovation centres that will focus on 5G, sensors, IP, SDN (software-defined networking), cloud tech, analytics and imaging.</p><br /><br/><br /><p>A joint statement by the two companies highlighted a series of innovation-focused moves set to spur the development of 5G, which promises to bring faster data speeds and lower latency to the next generation of mobile networks.</p><br /><br/><br /><p>They include activities set to take place in a 5G/Small Cell R&D Centre of Excellence based in France, and plans to hire "several hundred" new graduates to work on "future-oriented" technologies including 5G.</p><br /><br/><br /><p>Nokia also announced plans to build a €100 million investment fund to invest in start-ups in France focused on the Internet of Things and the Industrial Internet.</p><br /><br/><br /><p>The combined company has more than 110,000 employees globally, with around a third working in R&D alone. The new company will be headed by Nokia's current CEO, Rajeev Suri, and will retain the Nokia name which means that Alcatel-Lucent will cease to exist as a separate brand.</p><br /><br/><br /><h3>Lagging behind</h3><br /><br/><br /><p>Finnish powerhouse Nokia sold its handset division to Microsoft two years ago for $7.5 billion after failing to successfully transition from feature phones to smartphones.</p><br /><br/><br /><p>Once the world's largest handset manufacturer, it lagged behind Samsung and Apple as Android and iOS made Symbian obsolete.</p><br /><br/><br /><p>Alcatel stopped making handsets more than a decade ago, having created and then sold a joint venture with Chinese TCL communication. Alcatel still survive in the handset market as Alcatel-TCL or Alcatel One Touch, but has no link – other than in the name – with Alcatel-Lucent.</p><br /><br/><br /><ul><br /><li style='list-style: none'><br/> </li><br /><li><a href="http://ift.tt/UQRgqW">10 best smartphones in the world today</a> </li><br /><li style='list-style: none'><br/> </li><br /></ul><br /><br/><br /><img border="0" height="1" src="http://ift.tt/1JJRbQk" width="1"/><br clear='all'/><br /><br/><br /><br/><br /><br/><br /><br/><br /><br/><br /><a href="http://ift.tt/1PM6lJf" rel="nofollow"><img border="0" src="http://ift.tt/1JJRbQm"/> </a><br/><br /><br/><br /><a href="http://ift.tt/1PM6lJj" rel="nofollow"><img border="0" src="http://ift.tt/1JJRbQo"/> </a><br/><br /><br/><br /><a href="http://ift.tt/1PM6lJm" rel="nofollow"><img border="0" src="http://ift.tt/1JJRdrz"/> </a><br/><br /><br/><br /><br/><br /><br/><br /><a href="http://ift.tt/1PM6lJo"><img border="0" src="http://ift.tt/1JJRdrD"/> </a> <img border="0" height="1" src="http://ift.tt/1PM6o7Q" width="1"/><img alt="" height="1" src="http://ift.tt/1JJRdrF" width="1"/><br/><br /><br/><br /><br/><br /><br/><br />From <a href="http://ift.tt/yaGhNV">techradar</a> </div><br /><br/><br /><br/><br />from http://bit.ly/1DhJMWf<br/></div>

Nokia and Alcatel merger could speed up 5G and Internet of Things

Mobile handset makers Nokia and Alcatel-Lucent have announced plans to merge, a move that could speed up the arrival of technologies includi...

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