Telecommunications in Finland, as indicated by a 2022

European Commission The European Commission (EC) is the primary Executive (government), executive arm of the European Union (EU). It operates as a cabinet government, with a number of European Commissioner, members of the Commission (directorial system, informall ...

index, highlight the country's significant role in the EU's digital sector. Finland has a high concentration of

Information and Communication Technology Information and communications technology (ICT) is an extensional term for information technology (IT) that stresses the role of unified communications and the integration of telecommunications (telephone lines and wireless signals) and computer ...

(ICT) specialists and robust training programs, leading to notable expertise in technologies like AI and

cloud computing Cloud computing is "a paradigm for enabling network access to a scalable and elastic pool of shareable physical or virtual resources with self-service provisioning and administration on-demand," according to International Organization for ...

. The nation has also made significant advancements in 5G technology. Additionally, Finland stands out for its high adoption of digital public services. The Finnish digital sector benefits from both the technology industry's contributions and government policies aimed at enhancing digital infrastructure and

cybersecurity Computer security (also cybersecurity, digital security, or information technology (IT) security) is a subdiscipline within the field of information security. It consists of the protection of computer software, systems and networks from thr ...

Internet and digital progress

Fixed broadband

In the European Commission's 2022

Digital Economy and Society Index The Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) monitors Europe's overall digital performance and tracks the progress of European Union (EU) countries regarding their digital competitiveness. On an annual basis, it monitors the performance of member st ...

(DESI) report, Finland is ranked 8th in connectivity among 27 EU countries, but it faces challenges in its digital infrastructure. Fixed broadband adoption stands at 61%, below the EU average of 78%. Very High Capacity Network (VHCN) coverage is 68%, slightly lower than the EU's 70%, with rural areas affected, having only 12.4% VHCN coverage.

Fiber to the Premises Fiber to the ''x'' (FTTX; also spelled "fibre") or fiber in the loop is a generic term for any broadband network architecture using optical fiber to provide all or part of the local loop used for last mile telecommunications. As fiber optic ...

(FTTP) coverage is at 40%, compared to the EU average of 50%. To address these issues, the Finnish government plans to expand VHCN coverage through national broadband and digital infrastructure initiatives. Despite funding challenges, the government allocated EUR 16 million from the

European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development (EAFRD) is one of the European Structural and Investment Funds which was set up for the financing of Rural Development Programme (RDP) actions by European Union Council Regulation (EC) No 1290/2 ...

(EAFRD) in 2021 for fiber network development.

Mobile broadband

Finland's

mobile broadband Mobile broadband is the marketing term for Wireless broadband, wireless Internet access via mobile network, mobile (cell) networks. Access to the network can be made through a portable modem, wireless modem, or a Tablet computer, tablet/smartp ...

performance is strong, with 72% 5G coverage, surpassing the EU average of 66%, and a 96% mobile broadband adoption rate, exceeding the EU average of 87%. This achievement can be attributed to extensive 4G and 5G availability, covering 72% of populated areas. The early allocation of 5G pioneer bands (700 MHz in 2016, 3.6 GHz in 2018, and 26 GHz in 2020) has played a key role in achieving this widespread coverage. Recent frequency usage changes near Russia are expected to further improve 5G services in those regions.

Integration of digital technology

The country ranks at the forefront of digital technology integration within the EU. Notably, 82% of Finnish

small and medium-sized enterprises Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) or small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are businesses whose personnel and revenue numbers fall below certain limits. The abbreviation "SME" is used by many national agencies and international organiza ...

(SMEs) exhibit basic digital intensity, higher than the EU average of 55%. Finland distinguishes itself in the adoption of advanced technologies, with 22% using big data, 66% of companies utilizing cloud solutions, and 16% implementing artificial intelligence (AI)—figures that are higher than the EU averages of 14%, 34%, and 8%, respectively. Further, 83% of Finnish companies have adopted e-invoices in contrast to the EU's average of 32%. On the aspect of ICT for environmental sustainability, 77% of Finnish enterprises report medium or high intensity of green action through ICT, which exceeds the EU average of 66%.

Digital public services

Finland has established itself as a leader in digital public services within the EU, as evidenced by the DESI 2022 report, which notes that 92% of Finnish

internet users The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a network of networks that consists of private, publ ...

engage with

e-government E-government (known for electronic government) involves utilizing technology devices, such as computers and the Internet, for faster means of delivering public services to citizens and other persons in a country or region. E-government offer ...

services compared to the EU average of 65%. This high level of engagement is attributed to Finland's progress in digital services, as seen in the My Kanta portal, which promotes

digital health Digital health is a discipline that includes digital care programs, technologies with health, healthcare, living, and society to enhance the efficiency of healthcare delivery and to make medicine more personalized and precise. It uses informat ...

by providing citizens with secure access to their medical records and health services online. In the areas of

open data Open data are data that are openly accessible, exploitable, editable and shareable by anyone for any purpose. Open data are generally licensed under an open license. The goals of the open data movement are similar to those of other "open(-so ...

and

artificial intelligence Artificial intelligence (AI) is the capability of computer, computational systems to perform tasks typically associated with human intelligence, such as learning, reasoning, problem-solving, perception, and decision-making. It is a field of re ...

(AI), Finland achieves scores of 90 and 93 out of 100 for providing digital services to citizens and businesses, respectively, surpassing the EU averages of 75 and 82. An example of Finland's application of AI to enhance public services is the AuroraAI program, which is designed to facilitate personalized access to a range of public services. Additionally, Finland is enhancing its digital identity infrastructure to offer a secure, unified electronic identification system, improving access to digital services across sectors. The Ministerial Working Group on "Digitalisation, Data Economy, and Public Administration" is tasked with both advancing and safeguarding Finland's digital framework, which includes a focus on

Telephones

Telephones – main lines in use: 2.368 million (2004) Telephones – mobile cellular: 4.988 million (2004) Telephone system: General Assessment: Modern system with excellent service. Domestic:

Digital Digital usually refers to something using discrete digits, often binary digits. Businesses *Digital bank, a form of financial institution *Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) or Digital, a computer company *Digital Research (DR or DRI), a software ...

fiber-optic An optical fiber, or optical fibre, is a flexible glass or plastic fiber that can transmit light from one end to the other. Such fibers find wide usage in fiber-optic communications, where they permit transmission over longer distances and at ...

fixed-line network and an extensive

cellular network A cellular network or mobile network is a telecommunications network where the link to and from end nodes is wireless network, wireless and the network is distributed over land areas called ''cells'', each served by at least one fixed-locatio ...

provide domestic needs. There are three major cellular network providers with independent networks (

Elisa Oyj Corporation (natively ) is a Finnish telecommunications company founded in 1882. It was called HPY () until July 2000. The mobile operations of Elisa were previously known as Radiolinja. Elisa is a telecommunications, ICT and online service ...

Telia Finland Telia Company AB is a Swedish multinational telecommunications company and mobile network operator present in Sweden, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Telia also owns TV4 Media which includes TV4 in Sweden, MTV Oy in Finland, ...

and

DNA Oyj DNA Plc (natively ) is a Finnish telecommunications company. It was founded in 2000, and refounded in 2007 after a merger. DNA offers cellular phone services, FTTx, ADSL, terrestrial television (DVB-T/DVB-T2), cable television (DVB-C) and regu ...

). There are several smaller providers which may have independent networks in smaller areas, but are generally dependent on rented networks. There is a great variety of cellular providers and contracts, and competition is particularly fierce. International: Country code – 358; 2

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

cable (

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Connection); satellite earth stations – access to

Intelsat Intelsat S.A. (formerly Intel-Sat, Intelsat) is a Luxembourgish-American multinational satellite services provider with corporate headquarters in Luxembourg and administrative headquarters in Tysons, Virginia, United States. Originally formed ...

transmission service via a Swedish

satellite A satellite or an artificial satellite is an object, typically a spacecraft, placed into orbit around a celestial body. They have a variety of uses, including communication relay, weather forecasting, navigation ( GPS), broadcasting, scient ...

earth station, 1

Inmarsat Inmarsat is a British communications satellite, satellite telecommunications company, offering global mobile services. It provides telephone and data services to users worldwide, via portable or mobile terminals which communicate with groun ...

(

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

and

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

regions); note – Finland shares the Inmarsat earth station with the other

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; ) are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe, as well as the Arctic Ocean, Arctic and Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic oceans. It includes the sovereign states of Denm ...

(

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

, and

Radio and television

There is a national public radio and television company

Yleisradio Yleisradio Oy (; ), abbreviated as Yle () (formerly styled in all uppercase until 2012), translated into English as the Finnish Broadcasting Company, is Finland's national public broadcasting company, founded in 1926. It is a joint-stock comp ...

(Yle), which was previously funded by

television license A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts or the possession of a television set. In some countries, a licence is also required to own a radio or rece ...

fees, but nowadays via the YLE tax. and two major private media companies,

Alma Media Alma Media Oyj is a Finnish media and digital service business company. Its best known products are '' Iltalehti'', '' Kauppalehti'', '' Talouselämä'', Ampparit, and . In addition to news services, the company's products provide informatio ...

and

Sanoma Sanoma Corporation (, , formerly SanomaWSOY) is Finland's largest media group and a European education publisher. The company has media business in Finland and an education business in twelve European countries, including Belgium, Netherlands, ...

, with national TV channels. Yle maintains four TV channels YLE1, YLE2, Teema and FST5. There are four commercial, national channels: Alma Media has

MTV3 MTV3 (, ) is a Finnish commercial television channel owned and operated by the media company MTV Oy, originally launched on 13 August 1957 as a programming block, becoming its own channel on 1 January 1993. It had the biggest audience share ...

and

SubTV MTV Sub (formerly TVTV!, Subtv and Sub) is a Finnish television channel owned by MTV Oy. The previous owner Alma Media sold Sub and its sister channels (MTV3, C More Max, MTV Ava Radio Nova and Sävelradio) to Swedish Bonnier and Proventus in ...

, and Sanoma has Nelonen and Jim. There are also a lot of pay-TV channels.

News Corporation The original incarnation of News Corporation (abbreviated News Corp. and also variously known as News Corporation Limited) was an American Multinational corporation, multinational mass media corporation founded and controlled by media mogul Ru ...

introduced itself to the market in 2012 with the

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

channel, which was preceded by Finnish-owned SuomiTV.

Radio broadcast stations

AM 2, FM 186,

shortwave Shortwave radio is radio transmission using radio frequencies in the shortwave bands (SW). There is no official definition of the band range, but it always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (app ...

1 (1998)

Television broadcast stations

120 (plus 431 repeaters) (1999) Television is broadcast as digital (

DVB-T DVB-T, short for Digital Video Broadcasting – Terrestrial, is the DVB European-based consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital terrestrial television that was first published in 1997 and first broadcast in Singapore in Fe ...

) only since August 2007. On cable, only digital (

DVB-C Digital Video Broadcasting - Cable (DVB-C) is the Digital Video Broadcasting, DVB European consortium standard for the broadcast transmission of digital television over coaxial cable, cable. This system transmits an MPEG-2 or MPEG-4 family digita ...

) will be broadcast from 2008 on.

References

External links

ThisisFINLAND – Media Moves
{{DEFAULTSORT:Telecommunications In Finland