Uber offers $3bn for Nokia's digital mapping service

Uber has reportedly made a $3bn bid for Nokia Here, in an attempt to reduce its reliance on Google Maps

The Uber app currently relies on Google for its mapping data Photo: Reuters


Uber, the minicab app, has reportedly bid $3 billion for digital mapping service Nokia Here, one of the main competitors to Google Maps.

It is thought that the acquisition could help Uber with services like Uber Pool, the company’s ride-sharing initiative, which uses geospatial mapping data to pair riders with drivers.


Negotiations over the sale of Nokia Here (previously known as Ovi Maps and Nokia Maps) are continuing, and the talks still may not lead to a deal, people with knowledge of the offer told The New York Times.


Nokia announced its intention to sell its digital mapping division last month. It is thought that the move is part of a cash-raising effort ahead of aplanned acquisition of French telecoms company Alcatel-Lucent.


Uber's offer will compete with a joint bid from a consortium of German car makers including BMW, Audi and Mercedes-Benz, which are reportedly teaming up with the Chinese search engine Baidu on the offer. An undisclosed private equity firm has also submitted a bid.


As part of its bid, the German consortium has promised to make Nokia’s mapping service available to others under a licensing agreement, so that it can remain a competitor to Google Maps.

The move by Uber has been interpreted as an attempt to reduce its reliance on Google, which currently provides mapping data for its taxi app and whose venture arm is one of its principle backers.

Uber has already bought a Californian mapping software company called deCarta and is working with Carnegie Mellon University to bolster its mapping efforts and develop autonomous vehicle technology.

Nokia’s mapping business holds more than an 80 per cent global market share for built-in car navigation systems. Its Here service has maps in nearly 200 countries, offers voice guided navigation in 94 countries, and provides live traffic information in 33 countries.