Nokia said today it has purchased Novarra, a maker of mobile web browsing technology. The companies didn’t disclose the purchase price.

Nokia, the world’s largest mobile phone maker, currently builds its own mobile browser, so it can incorporate the Illinois company’s technology into its own future browsers. Since data service usage is skyrocketing, having a good mobile web browser is essential.

Novarra was founded in 1999 and raised $50 million in funding in 2007.  Novarra makes web-based technologies for low-end mobile feature phones. Palm and U.S. Cellular use Novarra’s technology for things like web access, portals, videos, widgets and advertising. Nokia has also acquired mobile companies such as Dopplr, Plum, Cellity, Bit-Side and Navteq. The latter was a big kahuna $8.1 billion deal.

Here is the press release:-

Browser service technology will provide improved mobile web experience on mainstream mobile phones

Espoo, Finland – Nokia today announced it has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the outstanding shares of Novarra, Inc., a privately-held company based in Chicago, IL. Novarra is a provider of a mobile browser and service platform and has more than 100 employees. Novarra’s mobile browser and services platform will be used by Nokia to deliver enhanced Internet experiences on Nokia mobile devices. Novarra has deployed their solution with leading mobile operator and internet services customers globally.

“Connecting the next billion consumers to the Internet will happen primarily on mobile devices,” said Niklas Savander, Executive Vice President, Services, Nokia, “and delivering an optimized internet experience on our devices is core to our mission. By driving innovation in all segments of our portfolio, we are building one of the largest consumer audiences for web services and content. Novarra’s Internet services technology delivered on the world’s most widely-used mobile platform, Nokia’s Series 40, will help us achieve this.”

Nokia expects a new service offering utilizing the Novarra technology platform to be available later this year. The acquisition is expected to close in the second quarter of 2010, and is subject to the customary closing conditions, including regulatory reviews. Following the acquisition, Novarra will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Nokia.