Geographic Region (ITU/UN)
ISO 3166 Code
M49 Code
MCC
ITU Member
ITU-R Region
Overview
Finland (Suomi), officially the Republic of Finland, is a sovereign state in Northern Europe. The country has land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east. The country consists of a mainland and 179,000 islands, including the Åland Islands, which have their own telecommunication operators and carriers.
Regulatory Environment
Finland is a member of the ITU and as such follows radio frequency harmonisation principles according to ITU-R Region-1. The regulatory body governing communications policy is the Ministry of Transport and Communications, and the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (FICORA) is charged with regulating the country's radio frequency spectrum activities such as planning, allocations, and licencing.
Mobile Telecommunications
Finland has a highly-developed and innovative wireless market with very high penetration rates for both cellular and mobile broadband services. According to latest ITU data (June 2017) mobile coverage reaches 99.9% of the population, and 4G LTE also accessible by 99.9% of Finns.
Finland 5G
As a leader in mobile telecommunications, Finnish authorities moved early on 5G, awarding several trial licences to the national mobile network operators between October 2015 and 2017. All MNOs conducted 5G trial and pilot programs between 2017 and 2018.
FICORA completed its 3.4 to 3.8 GHz spectrum auction in September 2018, with all three operators securing spectrum:
- Telia Finland: 3410 to 3540 MHz
- Elisa Finland: 3540 to 3670 MHz
- DNA: 3670 to 3800 MHz
Communications regulator Ministry of Transport and Communications published its digital infrastructure strategy at the end of 2018 which makes mention of using the 26 GHz band for 5G services.
National Mobile Network Operators
There are 1 mobile network operators servicing this region.
Wireless Network Operators
There are 1 subnational network operators servicing this region.