In a recent comparative network survey by European Communications Engineering, Elisa has ranked highest in terms of 3G coverage and data rates in Finland. Elisa has expanded the coverage of its 3G network tenfold in four years, reaching more than 90% of the country’s population. The upgrade carried out in April increased peak data rates to 15 Mbps.

The coverage and data rate of Elisa’s disturbance-free 3G network have improved continuously, and produced the best results in a recently published comparative network survey. Availability is the most important factor for Elisa in the establishment of a network. The Elisa 3G network has expanded tenfold in four years, covering now more than 90 per cent of Finland.

According to the recent survey conducted by European Communications Engineering Ltd, the Elisa network produces the best field strength and highest data rates. Furthermore, the Elisa network has the lowest rate of disturbances.
- Elisa is determinedly committed to improving and expanding its 3G network. For Finns, this means a larger area of coverage and faster mobile broadband connections with fewer disturbances all over Finland. We are continuously developing our network on the basis of customer feedback and research information. Following the previous survey, we upgraded the base station trunk connections, which can be seen as clearly increased connection speeds, says Panu Lehti, Executive Vice President at Elisa.

Elisa makes determined and long-term investments in its network

Every year, Elisa invests about 10 to 12 per cent of its annual turnover (i.e., EUR 160 million) in fixed assets, the majority of which comprises network investments. In 2009, for example, Elisa invested some EUR 115 million in networks. In recent years, Elisa has built thousands of base stations, upgraded its trunk network and increased the maximum speeds in its network, as represented by the most recent increase in speeds of 15 Mbit/s carried out in April.

Elisa’s objective for the near future is to establish the same extensive coverage for its 3G network all over Finland as for the current GSM network.

- We are not simply building coverage for the reason of coverage by setting up base stations all over Finland, but our aim is to reach as high a level of availability as possible through uniform coverage. Finns are a mobile people. For us, it is important that our customers can use their mobile phones and broadband, browse the Internet and use their e-mail accounts as quickly as possible and with as little disturbance as possible, independent of time and place – at work and in their leisure time, Lehti says.

The ECE survey is available in Finnish at www.elisa.fi/pressi and later in English at www.elisa.com
The coverage of the Elisa 3G network is presented at www.elisa.fi/kuuluvuus and the disturbance service map at www.elisa.fi/hairiokartta.

Basic information about the survey: European Communications Engineering Ltd, an independent expert company, studied the coverage and functionality of Finnish 3G networks. The survey, conducted in January–March 2010 covering 100 municipalities, showed significant differences between 3G operators operating in Finland. The differences between the networks were examined over a total distance of 12,223 km, including 3.9 million measurement samples taken along the measurement route. The annual survey was first conducted in 2008. The survey was ordered by Elisa. The municipalities and routes are selected by the party conducting the survey and, apart from the 50 largest towns, they are not known to the other parties.

Elisa is the leading provider of communications services in the Nordic countries, and is publicly listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Large Cap list. In addition to the Nordic countries, Elisa also has operations in the Baltic countries and Russia. We serve about 2 million consumers regionally and around 150,000 enterprises and entrepreneurs internationally, offering a wide range of subscriptions with services. We provide experiences for people and enhance productivity for organisations online. Elisa focuses on developing consumer and corporate ICT and online services. In 2009, our revenue totalled EUR 1.43 billion. The number of personnel is approximately 3,200. Elisa’s global alliance partners are Vodafone and Telenor. For more information, visit www.elisa.fi.

European Communications Engineering (ECE Ltd) is an independent Finnish expert company specialising in radio network design, training and development operations.