Nokia hopes to finalise Microsoft partnership within “a couple of months”

Nokia’s partnership with Microsoft, announced last week, will be confirmed and finalised within “in a couple of months” says Nokia CEO Stephen Elop, talking with a group of Finnish journalists.

The deal will see Nokia make Microsoft’s Windows Phone platform its primary operating system, replacing its own MeeGo and Symbian software, as the company targets the North American smartphone market.

Reuters reports:

The deal would be signed “in a couple of months (or) it might take a bit longer,” Chief Executive Stephen Elop said in a meeting with Finnish journalists.

Nokia’s smartphone competitors will be interested to see what the finalised deal represents – given the fact that Nokia has been given exclusive access to the Windows Phone 7 platform – as Microsoft’s OEM partners are restricted from building on top of the operating system.

Microsoft has said that it will make additions to the platform public to remain competitive and deliver innovation. We expect to see some of the first Nokia Windows Phone 7 devices from October.