By  Emeka  Aginam

The Finish Frontline mobile phone provider, Nokia has said that it would work with the local authorities in the Nigerian market to stamp out to the barest minimum all forms of counterfeiting, even as it outlined plans to be the market leader in smartphone segment which is now becoming the toast of many consumers around the world.

The Executive Vice President, Mobile Phone, Marry T. McDowell who addressed journalists at the just concluded Mobile World Congress held in Barcelona, Spain said with optimism that the Finish phone maker was accelerating a change through a new path geared towards being the smartphone leader , reinforcing their mobile device platform and realizing investments in the future.

“We have been working closely with local authorities in different countries especially, Nigerian market. We have a number of activities in place to tackle counterfeiting which is a global issue. “We are working with local governments to crack down shipment of counterfeited products. We have been educating consumers on what they can get in buying genuine Nokia products which is the leading brand globally. We expect a decline in piracy given our close relationship we are having with the local authorities

“Nokia is doing what is socially responsible. We are partnering with the government and local agencies to ensure consumers have access to original products.

“Counterfeit products are not only potentially harmful to consumers, but also have a negative impact on the local economy, the environment and on supporting local innovation.

“We will continue to support government efforts to reduce the proliferation of counterfeit products in our markets” she noted.

According to her, the issue of counterfeiting was not peculiar to Nokia, but in all brands . Every brand has a fake brand. The menace has became necessary to find a lasting solution to the lingering issue of counterfeit infiltrating the global market including Nigerian market which is very important to us.

While the battle for market lead in smartphone series hots up, the Executive Vice President, Mobile Phone noted that the phone maker had outlined plans to to be the market leader in the mobile ecosystem with its recent tie- up with Microsoft for windows 7 Operating System.

“We will win the battle in the ecosystem. We have the capacity to do that in the competiting market. We have a broad strategic partnership with Microsoft to build a new global mobile ecosystem’ she said.

Features set by Nokia for wider penetration in markets, according to her, include dual SIM support, touch-and-type input, and QWERTY keypads

Nokia is also committed to making a deliberate investment to expand its services, including the already-announced Nokia Money and Nokia Life Tools, she said.

It would be recalled that the major elements of the new strategy are not limited to the following:

*Plans for a broad strategic partnership with Microsoft to build a new global mobile ecosystem; Windows Phone would serve as Nokia’s primary smartphone platform.