Nokia is in the process of buying Canadian instant messaging provider Oz Communications. While Nokia has not yet disclosed the value of the acquisition, it has stated that the privately held company employed a staff of 220 and had 5.5 million paid users every month. The deal is expected to close by end-2008.
The acquisition is a part of Nokia’s strategy to extend its reach to services and applications, integrating devices with services, and packing them with diverse features such as navigation, mapping and music. Over the past few months, Nokia has made several acquisitions including those of Twango, Plazes, Enpocket andNavteq. The idea is that the services will help differentiate the handsets from others on the market and also provide the company with additional revenue.
