Recently the Sheraton Metechi Palace Hotel hosted a large gathering. The presentation by Nokia Mobile Phones and Georgia’s cellular communications leader MAGTI GSM of the two of Nokia’s new generation products designed for the GSM system - Nokia 7110 and Nokia 3210 brought together many who are interested in innovation and progress, new technologies and future projects.

Nokia’s Export Department Manager Mikka Taivonnen and Service Manager Esko Hopania were special guests at the event. Nokia’s choice of MAGTI GSM was not a random one: in Georgia the use of mobile phones operating on dual frequency (GSM 900/1800 MHz) is only possible within the MAGTI GSM network.

The name of Nokia, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of mobile phones, and already a household word, first became known in 1865. Obviously, it was not a cellular phone that Nokia’s name immediately conjured up. Initially, Nokia was best known as a company producing paper, evolving later into a large industrial conglomerate manufacturing paper and rubber products. In fact it was not until the late 1997s that the conglomerate bought a couple of telephone companies as part of a diversification strategy. Yet until the 90s the mobile division was nothing more than a far-flung satellite of the Nokia empire.

Since the beginning of the 90s, the new management set about focusing Nokia on mobile phones and turning it into a global company. The result was an estounding transformation.
 

 
Today Nokia is the leader in digital technology, which includes mobile phones, cellular and fixed networks, mobile data transfer systems and multimedia ports. The head office of Nokia is in Finland, but it has sales offices in over 140 countries, including Georgia. Its 1998 net sales reached 13,3 billion Euros (15 billion USD). The company has 51,000 employees and its stocks are quoted at stock exchanges in Helsinki, New York, London, Stockholm, Frankfurt and Paris.

Nokia 7110 was launched on  February 23, 1999 at a World GSM Congress in Cannes. Like other Nokia phones it has an original design and a simple, user-friendly menu. A new NaviRoller button helps to scroll through the shortcut options. Nokia 7110 is the first mobile phone that allows you to surf the Internet. The mobile recognizes text, so it can bring you the news and weather reports, stock quotes and e-mail messages, plane schedules and bank information.

The other product presented on the day was Nokia 3210. It also operates on two frequencies, GSM 900/1800 MHz. It was first launched in April, at the CeBIT ‘99 exhibition in Hannover.  Three short months later, by July, the product had appeared on the Georgian market. It is expected that Nokia 3210 will interest a wide range of consumer groups, young people and female consumers in particular. Similarly to “Nickel” Nokia, which has won great popularity in Tbilisi, Nokia 3210 has a sensitive yet invisible antenna, that makes the mobile phone more compact. Nokia 3210 can operate in three types of networks - GSM 900, GSM 1800 and GSM 900/1800. It automatically selects the best frequency and can switch networks even in the course of a conversation.

The presentation was a pleasant and festive event. It demonstrated again Georgia’s desire to continually move forward, innovate and progress.

Giorgi Avaliani
Head of the Sales and
Distribution Department
MAGTICOM