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In what could be more bad news for the manufacturers of satellite navigation (sat-nav) devices, Finnish communications company, Nokia, has introduced a free navigation service for its mobile handsets. The new service is expected to give firm competition to other stand-alone products in the market.

Nokia’s new service, Ovi Maps, will initially be accessible on ten handset models, which the company believes comprises about 83 million of its handsets already being used by consumers. The service will also be pre-loaded into all Nokia handsets, which will be available for sale from January 21. The mapping will allow ‘turn-by-turn’ navigation featuring different routes, depending on whether the user is walking or is in a vehicle. Another advantage of Ovi Maps is that it will store the maps in the handset itself, cutting down on the network load. Users in the UK will be able to see 2D and 3D European maps with the facility to download more maps whenever needed.

Nokia said the company hoped that other developers would come up with new applications to complement its service. Speaking at the launch, the company’s Executive Vice President, Anssi Vanjoki, said it resembled a huge “mash-up environment”.

However, Nokia’s move could only spell more trouble for many like TomTom, the makers of satellite navigation systems, who will have to compete against a free mapping service like Ovi Maps. These companies already feared losses after Google announced free sat-nav for its new Nexus One handset and for the Motorola Droid.

The initiative taken by Nokia and Google’s suggests that both companies are not afraid of making money through contextual advertising. However, sat-nav manufacturers, like TomTom, who still follow the traditional business model, will need to look for new ways of dealing with the present situation.

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