Nokia Corporation, a Finnish manufacturer of wireless communications equipment, is one of the world’s largest corporations. The company is primarily a provider of digital wireless equipment, telecommunications networks, and Internet services. In 2013, Microsoft Corporation announced a deal to acquire Nokia’s mobile phone business. The deal went into effect in 2014. Nokia Corporation’s name comes from its founding place, the Finnish town of Nokia.
Nokia was founded as a paper mill in 1865 by Fredrik Idestam, a Finnish mining engineer. It was registered as a corporation in 1868. In 1967, the corporation merged with Finnish Rubber Works Ltd., founded in 1898, and Finnish Cable Works, which began in 1912. During the 1980’s, Nokia Corporation grew as it purchased telecommunications and consumer electronics companies in Germany, France, the Netherlands, Sweden, and Switzerland. It became a major producer of computers , computer monitors , and television sets. In 1981, Nokia developed car phones for the world’s first multinational cellular mobile telephone network, Nordic Mobile Telephone (NMT).
