Nokia has expanded the remit of its business 'ecosystem' to include operators and independent software vendors.

Nokia for Business brings together the company's partners to promote collaboration.

The company said that the programme opens up "new opportunities for this growing community of partners to work together to deliver mobility products to businesses".

Nokia also introduced an incentive programme designed to further encourage collaboration between partners and to support investments in broadening their technology expertise and expanding their customer base.

"Nokia has created an ecosystem where various partner organisations can come together to deliver complete offerings that address specific business challenges," said David Petts, a senior vice president at Nokia.

"By creating links between the companies that we work with, and offering incentives that encourage collaboration, we bring the concept of 'work together smarter' to life in the community.

"We believe this is a significant driver for the continued adoption of mobility services that deliver real business benefit and transform the way business gets done."

Operators taking part in the programme will initially have three 'tracks': mobility, voice and applications.

"Each track is complete with a total channel offering that includes go-to-market programmes, incentives, training and support," Petts said.

ISVs will be included as Forum Nokia members, developing mobile applications for businesses.

Petts said that this would accelerate the delivery of complete business offerings, extending the go-to-market reach of Forum Nokia providers and promoting value-added applications.

The Nokia for Business Channel Program was launched earlier this year and includes more than 450 fully accredited partners.

Enrolment is currently open and the programmes are expected to come into effect in January 2008.