Elisa's 5G network now covers half of Finland's population

Finnish operator Elisa said its 5G network has been deployed in more than 100 locations across the country, covering half of Finland's population. In the first few months of this year, Elisa's 5G network was expanded in various regions of Finland.

In the capital Helsinki, Elisa's 5G network has covered 90% of the city's population. In Oulu, Elisa's 5G network covers more than 80% of the population. In Turku, Seinäjoki and Tampere, 5G covers nearly 70% of the population, while Ylivieska, Pietarsaari, Kemi and Hyvinkää have almost 80% population coverage.

In September 2020, Elisa announced a new 5G agreement with Nordic vendors Ericsson and Nokia. Ericsson was selected for a comprehensive 5G technology deployment covering 5G core and 5G radio access network (RAN). The agreement includes 5G non-standalone (5G NSA) and 5G standalone (5G SA) products and solutions.

Ericsson Cloud Packet Core products and solutions are already in use in Elisa's 5G network. As part of the partnership extension, Ericsson said it will deploy its dual-mode 5G core solution to add support for standalone technology in Elisa's network, which operates on the 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz spectrum bands. As part of the deal, Ericsson Spectrum Sharing for 5G standalone and 5G non-standalone will also be deployed.

Nokia has also been selected by Elisa as a national supplier of 5G RAN equipment, providing its AirScale 5G radio access portfolio to enhance mobile connectivity and enable other use cases such as massive IoT and ultra-reliable low latency services (URLLC). Elisa initially launched its commercial 5G network in 2019 and now offers this technology in multiple cities in Finland.

In related news, Elisa said that the Port of Hamina Kotka is currently testing Elisa’s 5G private network. Companies operating in the port area use the network to test services for developing the port’s logistics, occupational safety and ecology, among other things.