The code behind the Symbian mobile phone operating system has been released to the world and is now open source.

The operating system’s code, which is said to be used by around 330 million handsets, can now be modified by individuals for any purpose. The decision to make the code open source was announced in 2008, with the intention of attracting new developers keen to improve Symbian.

Speaking to the BBC, Lee Williams of The Symbian Foundation, said: “This is the largest open source migration effort ever. It will increase rate of evolution and increase the rate of innovation of the platform.

“The development community is now empowered to shape the future of the mobile industry, and rapid innovation on a global scale will be the result.”

John Delaney, an analyst with IDC, said: “It’s increasingly important for smartphone platforms to offer developers something unique. The placing into open source of the world’s most widely-used smartphone platform emphatically fits that bill. It will be exciting to see where this takes the industry.”