Nokia to produce 3G laptop dongles

Nokia has revealed plans to enter the 3G dongle market by manufacturing what it calls 'internet sticks'.

The Finnish mobile handset leader has clearly seen the explosive growth of 3G internet and wants a slice of the action. It will be going toe to toe with Huawei Technologies, which supplies dongles for the likes of the mobile network 3.

Nokia will ship the first of these sticks in 2009, and Tapio Markki, VP for hardware platform components at Nokia, told Reuters that the companies 3G know how and experience would be key to its success.

Rapid growth

"Leveraging these capabilities, we believe we are well-positioned to become one of the winning providers for HSPA modem solutions. The market for HSPA modems is expected to grow very rapidly during the coming years," Markki said.

Nokia declined to say how much the dongles would cost, but it's likely they'll be of a similar price to those already on the market thanks to impending deals with operators and service bundles.