After facing strict regulatory approval, Nokia (NYSE: NOK) said today it has officially closed the $8.1 billion acquisition of digital map company Navteq, which was before its expected Aug. 8 deadline. Now that Navteq will be part of Nokia, it will continue serve its current customer base but also invest in future, including expanding the number of countries it has already mapped and adding more content. Nokia believes strongly in the acquisition because they feel it is important to add context—time, place and people—to mobile internet services. Maps are a big component of that. Nokia’s CEO Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo: “The addition of NAVTEQ (NYSE: NVT) comes at the right time for Nokia’s business, allowing us to create the leading location platform just as context-aware and location-based Internet services expand rapidly into mobile communications devices.” Likewise, Navteq said the acquisition is key for them because it can tap into Nokia’s billion-plus mobile user base, and get a larger geographic reach and a broader range of content than it could ever get through its fleet of truck drivers that scour the globe.

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Navteq, based in Chicago, was founded in 1985 and has about 3,000 employees located in 30 countries. With the help of Navteq, Nokia Maps covers more than 200 countries with 70 of them navigable with options such as auto and pedestrian navigation. Release.