In what was side news following Nokia's announcement to purchase Alcatel-Lucent in mid-April this year, the Finnish company's Here Maps service is still up on the trade block, with an impending sale expected soon. In the interim however, Facebook has already signed a deal with Nokia to use its Here Maps service for its mobile site.

According to TechCrunch, the Here Maps service integration also extends to some of Facebook's other offerings, such as Facebook Messenger. It is also being reported that Instagram for Android is utilising Here Maps.

Prior to this new development, Facebook's native mapping service was Microsoft's Bing. In a statement given to The Verge, Facebook has stated that this change will "give us [Facebook] more control and flexibility in delivering a consistent maps experience." While rumours are now circulating that Facebook are in pole position to purchase the Here Maps service, it also reported that Nokia has been in talks with the likes of Apple, Amazon and some select German car manufacturers.

For Nokia, Here Maps has been relatively unprofitable since the Finnish company purchased the business and technology in 2008 for an estimated $8.1 billion. Whether or not any of the above listed companies can turn that lack of profitability around remains to be seen, but the wealth of data that Here Maps currently possesses is sure to be of some value.