Nokia, the world's largest handset maker, has agreed to buy privately held mobile browser company Novarra to improve Web surfing on a wide range of its low-end and mid-range phones.

The Espoo, Finland-based company said it will use the new browser to beef up its Series 40 platform and offer a new Internet service later this year.

Consumers have long used their handsets to access the Internet, but mobile Web browsing only became mainstream when Apple introduced the iPhone in 2007. Since then, usage has increasingly spread from smartphones to more basic devices and is set to surge in 2010 and beyond.

"Connecting the next billion consumers to the Internet will happen primarily on mobile devices," said Niklas Savander, the head of Nokia's services business.

Top handset makers have been scrambling to match the iPhone's browsing capabilities by buying or building their own software.

Novarra's competitors, including its larger rival Opera Software, offer browser technology that packages downloaded data to weigh less on congested wireless networks, and have started to refocus their strategies to sell browsers to operators to gain access to global distribution.

Nokia did not disclose the terms of the deal for the Chicago-based company which employs more than 100 staff.