Nokia, the world’s largest handset vendor, is to launch in Japan as an MVNO, reports International Herald Tribune citing Japanese newspaper reports over the weekend. According to the reports, which are unconfirmed, Nokia will use market-leader NTT DoCoMo’s network as a host and could launch as early as next Spring. The service will reportedly target wealthy Japanese customers via Nokia’s range of ‘Vertu’-branded luxury phones, which feature jewels and precious metals and will retail for between JPY1.6 million and JPY5 million (US$17,000 to US$52,000). The handsets also feature a ‘concierge key’ that enables access to a round-the-clock personal assistant to help with travel, dining and entertaining arrangements.

Such a business model would mark a major departure for Nokia, which traditionally offers phones via local mobile operators. The Finnish vendor has a market-leading 39 percent global share of the handset market but only has a small presence in the Japanese market, which is dominated by local vendors such as Sharp, Panasonic, Fujitsu, NEC and Toshiba. An MVNO model is also considered a strategy that will allow Nokia to more effectively promote its ‘Ovi’ mobile content services offering.