Nokia Siemens Networks said on July 11 that it had won network expansion orders worth 550 million euros (US$865 million) from the world's top mobile operator China Mobile in the first half of the year.

In two separate cases, the companies accused each other of falsely claiming to hold patents that were essential to the UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications System) 3G (Third-Generation) standard. Vendors who make equipment that complies with the standard must pay licensing fees to the developers who contribute patents to it.

Nokia agreed to buy Navteq, the largest maker of maps used in car-navigation equipment, in October to add maps to its phones and compete with TomTom and Garmin. The European Commission, the EU's antitrust regulator in Brussels, said the Nokia purchase raised no competition concerns. The case is the second acquisition of a digital map company to receive EU clearance this year. The commission approved plans by TomTom, Europe's biggest maker of car-navigation devices, to buy Tele Atlas NV on May 14.

If nothing else, Nokia's moves to make Symbian a free and open mobile operating system should put pressure on the company's competitors to keep innovating and giving customers – device manufacturers, consumers, and carriers alike – what they want. Nokia said Tuesday that it aims to make Symbian – already the top smartphone operating system – the "most widely used software platform on the planet."

Nokia said Sony Ericsson, Ericsson, Panasonic and Siemens have accepted the offer, and it also expects Samsung Electronics to accept the offer.