Nokia said it expects to charge up to EUR 3 per mobile phone in order to license its standards-essential patents for 5G New Radio. The company issued its estimate for licensing rates ahead of the expected finalisation of 5G standards later this year and the first 5G phones hitting the market in early 2019.
Nokia has a significant portfolio of standard essential patents (SEPs), which the company said it's committed to license on fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory (FRAND) terms, in line with the applicable intellectual property policies of relevant standard-setting organizations.
For mobile phones which implement the 5G New Radio standard, the licensing rate for the Nokia 5G SEP portfolio will be capped at EUR 3 per device. For other categories of devices, Nokia will determine its licensing rates separately. The company said it wants to engage in "constructive dialogue" with relevant industry participants to define the licensing models best suited for those industries.
The outlook comes as Nokia seeks to grow its licensing business into a bigger part of the business. Nokia Licensing generated EUR 1.6 billion in revenues for the company in 2017, including EUR 300 million in non-recurring revenues. Nokia aims to grow recurring sales at the business at a compound annual rate of 10 percent over the three years to 2020.
