Nokia announced a plan to relocate an historic Nokia Bell Labs facility to a new site in the state of New Jersey, part of move towards a more modern R&D capability.

Chief strategy and technology officer Nishant Batra stated the move would marry the skills of staff at its current site in the US state with modern facilities built to Nokia’s specification.

Nokia stated the move reaffirmed an 80-year commitment to the state of New Jersey, home to an R&D facility responsible for technology breakthroughs including the world’s first transistor, and early development of cellular and satellite communications.

It plans to break ground on the new site in 2025.

Nokia highlighted the proximity of the new facility to a variety of academic centres of excellence, established industry leaders and “exciting new start-up ventures” as the reasons behind the move.

It also detailed plans for a venture studio in the US state, highlighting collaborations with Celesta Capital and America’s Frontier Fund to deliver “innovations” driving the “next generation of critical technology for the US”.

In a separate statement, Nokia revealed it also works with Roadrunner Venture studios, with all of its venture deals focused on Nokia Bell Labs’ “research efforts in areas targeting advanced 5G/6G communications, next-generation semiconductor and optical chip design and packaging, AI/ML, sensors and quantum computing”.