14 DAY TRIAL // Nokia's idea to include its Music Store service on the Nokia N81 and the 8GB version of Nokia N95 seemed pretty witty at first. The company planned on making a smooth adoption for its new service by providing it by default on its future handsets too. Operators don't like the idea that much and are now rejecting Nokia N81 support because of it.
Operators have a lot to lose with Nokia's Music Store, as it competes with their own music services. Because of this, they might see high profit drops, a thought that really does not suit their interests. Not the least surprising, 3UK and Orange too have decided that they are better off without Nokia N81 in their handset offer.
This might be only the beginning of what will prove to be a major struggle coming from Nokia to bring its Music Store supportive handsets on the market with the help of network operators. If the situation takes proportions and the number of operators that decide to reject Nokia's devices increases, the producer will be up against a serious problem.
The only solution might be that of the leading handset manufacturer to start a strong push to sell its devices unlocked. Still, this will mean a higher cost, without all those special offers that carriers usually add to the offer when selling these devices. One thing is for sure. Nokia has one more unpleasant surprise to face and one more problem with its products.
There is also the issue of the operators showing an anti-competitive behavior through their decision to avoid having customers choose between using their services and Nokia's. The handset producer is most probably working on showing things from its point of view, although they will not be able to force any operator to support a phone if they don't want to.