Nokia's Ollila sees scope for growth in mobile mkt

HELSINKI, June 30 (Reuters) Nokia Chairman Jorma Ollila said on Friday the world's mobile phone market had much scope for growth, both in low-cost handsets and more sophisticated devices.

''Clearly mobile phones have a long way to go,'' Ollila told visiting European journalists at a lunch in Helsinki.

''There are 3 billion people today who own a mobile phone. Five hundred million of them had never made a phone call in their life before,'' he said.

''The job for Nokia is to make sure as soon as possible to get another 2 billion people connected.'' That would help to drive prosperity and energise economies, said Ollila, whose Finnish company makes one in three of all mobile phones sold around the world.

''Simultaneously, we need to add high added value devices -- a music player connected to the telephone, and email being available to business and also to consumers on their phones.'' Ollila, who became non-executive chairman of Nokia when he gave up its chief executive role on June 1, identified particular growth areas as the Middle East, which he said was now growing fast, and the huge markets in Brazil, Russia, China and India.

India was starting to target third-tier cities and rural areas for mobile services, though operators were moving at their own pace.

''We are doing what can be done in view of the investments of the operators (in India),'' he said.

REUTERS DKS VV2127