According to data published by the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (Viestintavirasto, FICORA), around 89% of the population is now covered by at least one mobile network offering downlink speeds of up to 100Mbps. In addition, the watchdog has also published findings that suggest that 98% of Finns are within reach of mobile infrastructure which provides connectivity at downlink rates of up to 30Mbps. FICORA notes, however, that as the incumbents’ national 4G rollout has by and large followed ‘residential patterns’, geographical coverage is significantly lower, with 100Mbps-capable networks covering just 10% of the country’s landmass, and 30Mbps-capable infrastructure covering 45%. Consequently, FICORA has suggested that sparsely-populated areas are far less likely to have access to the fastest speeds.
Alongside its release of data regarding network availability, FICORA also revealed that the number of mobile subscribers in Finland totalled 9.5 million at the end of June 2018, with 23% of these said to be signed up to a data-only tariff, while 10% were voice-only plans; the remaining 67% of subscribers were on a tariff which included both voice and data allowances. In addition, the regulator revealed that the number of subscriptions with unlimited domestic data had increased to more than 6.2 million by mid-2018.