Nokia is to enter the fast-growing market for USB mobile broadband ‘dongles’ and will launch its first product early next year. In an interview with Reuters, Tapio Markki, Nokia’s vice-president for hardware platform components, said the dongle would be HSPA-enabled and sold primarily via mobile operators and bundled with other services. Markki would not reveal pricing for the product, but claimed that Nokia’s experience in 3G technologies means it is well-placed to compete with established USB dongle vendors such as market-leader Huawei. “Leveraging these capabilities, we believe we are well-positioned to become one of the winning providers for HSPA modem solutions,” he said.

According to figures from Strategy Analytics, the global market for dongles is to grow to 26 million units next year from 20 million in 2008. Reuters noted that this is the second time that Nokia – the world’s largest handset vendor – has attempted to enter this market. An earlier alliance with Intel to develop embedded 3G modules for notebook computers was wound down in early 2007.