Nokia gets into IM by buying OZ Communications

The beers are on OZ Communications.

Big time.

They’ve just been acquired by The Big N.

Congratulations to all.

This is a move that is sure to get tongues wagging some more — Nokia, becoming an internet company? Oh aye. There are a heck of a lot of benefits to Nokia acquiring OZ, not least the existing carrier partnerships:

Leading companies that are Powered by OZâ„¢ include: 3 Scandinavia, Alltel, AOL®, Bell Mobility, Boost Mobile, AT&T, Dobson, ICQ, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia, Palm, Pantech & Curitel, Rogers Wireless, Samsung, SonyEricsson, Sprint, TCL & Alcatel Mobile Phones, Telefónica Móviles España, Telenor Group, TeliaSonera, Telus Mobility, T-Mobile USA®, Verizon Wireless, Virgin Mobile USA and Yahoo!®.

A chap close to the deal tells me that we’ll shortly see an IM client of sorts integrated on to Nokia phones out of the box. I really wonder at that. I’m not too sure how many operators will react to that, even in today’s changed environment.

The acquisition is subject to ‘customary closing conditions’ — and should be complete in Q1 this year. At which point, OZ will become a unit of Nokia’s Services & Software division. Nice.