DNA said the construction of its Suomen Yhteisverkko shared mobile network with Telia Company’s Finnish arm, Sonera, has now been completed. Work began in spring 2015 and has now connected more than 760,000 people, even in sparsely populated areas. Kuusamo served as a pilot area, as its varying terrain and operating environment made it possible to ensure that building and maintaining the shared grid worked without problems.
After Kuusamo, DNA and Sonera continued the construction to cover the whole of Lapland, Kainuu, Savo, and North and South Karelia.
Antti Jokinen, CEO of Suomen Yhteisverkko, said the construction phase covered half of Finland, but the work will continue, as it maintains and develops the network.
They said the shared network is a unique initiative in Finland. It covers half of the surface area of Finland, populated by some 15 percent of Finns.
By combining the frequencies and resources of two operators, they were able to build a 4G network that is twice as fast as would otherwise have been possible. Coverage improved not only with 4G equipment but also with 2G and 3G equipment, Jokinen continued.
A total of 1,700 base stations have been built in the areas of Lapland, Kainuu, Savo, and North and South Karelia. In densely populated areas, the maximum data transfer rates provided by the shared network are 450 Mbps with LTE CAT9 devices. Outside densely populated areas, the maximum rate is 150 Mbps.
