Nokia in talks to supply SKorean market in deal with SK Telecom - report

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - SK Telecom is in talks with Nokia about supplying South Korea's biggest operator with handsets, the Financial Times reported.

Nokia (nyse: NOK - news - people ) cannot compete with its rivals there under the country's current telecoms regulations, which require the Finnish group to change its software platform.

But the South Korean government is expected to ease such regulations, the newspaper said. It quoted SK Telecom (nyse: SKM - news - people ) as saying: 'We are talking with foreign handset makers including Nokia ... We are positively considering receiving supply from them due to our focus on W-CDMA phones.'

SK Telecom said no decision had been made yet, though South Korean daily Chosun Ilbo said the company could offer Nokia phones to its customers by the end of this year.

Nokia declined to comment specifically on the South Korean market, the FT said.

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