Nokia N97 may not come to Orange or O2

Ben Woods

The Skype app installed on Nokia's N97 has caused disruption to negotiations with Orange and O2 for the Finnish company

Published on Mar 2, 2009

Network operators Orange and O2 may not accept the upcoming Nokia N97 on their networks due to the preinstalled Skype software.

The inclusion of the VOIP app has concerned the companies as it could lead to lower revenues from contracts that include lots of voice minutes in favour of ones that offer unlimited internet usage, which are often much cheaper.

Speaking with our sister site itpro.co.uk, a spokesperson for O2 said “We have made no announcement yet on whether will stock this handset, we are currently working with Nokia to understand their Skype service and the business model around it.”

The touchscreen N97 is due to hit the shelves in June but unless this row between the operators and Nokia can be resolved it might be without the support of O2 and Orange; we're thinking that this is pretty unlikely.

Users Comments

Re: Nokia N97 may not come to Orange or O2
Posted By ukstu 1 April 3, 2009 08:02:35 AM

Looks like Orange may be looking a customer of 19 years if they don`t go with the quality Nokia phones. Come on lads get with the system work with Skype rather than fight with them, If you take it off people will only re-install or use Fring which is better with Skype than Skype its self !