Telia on Wednesday announced the start of an accelerated 5G rollout program in Finland, including offers for mobile and home broadband 5G subscriptions and devices.
Telia Finland is initially offering 5G service in Helsinki, Vantaa and Oulu, with plans to hit the country’s seven largest cities by the end of 2019. Further coverage expansion is slated for 2020.
“We have started a 5G network rollout program in the biggest Finnish cities and will bring the best devices to our customers. Now is the perfect time to start offering services to all customers,” said Janne Koistinen, 5G Program Manager for Telia Finland, in a statement.
The operator’s first 5G handsets are the Samsung Galaxy S10 5G and the Huawei Mate 20 X 5G. In terms of 5G fixed wireless access (FWA), Nokia announced Telia’s residential customers in Finland can get a Nokia Fastmile 5G gateway in select stores, promising access to in-home gigabit peak speeds. Telia expects Nokia’s FWA gateway to be available to consumers at the end of October and the operator will also offer Huawei’s 5G CPE Pro router.
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Telia’s subscription for 5G home broadband promises 1 Gbps service with unlimited internet, for about $49 per month, according to Telecompaper. Telia has two unlimited 5G phone plans, one offering maximum service speeds of 1 Gbps and the second promising 450 Mbps peak speeds.
The operator launched its 5G network earlier this year, but has only been using it in pilot programs at certain locations, including the Helsinki Airport.
”We are accelerating network roll-out now that the first 5G devices are in the shops. At the end of the year, our network will be open in the seven biggest cities in Finland, and in the beginning of 2020, we will continue to build the coverage even wider,” said Koistinen.
Nokia and Telia have been collaborating on 5G tests in Finland for years, including a 2016 trial in Helskinki at the operator’s headquarters over spectrum in the 4.5 GHz band (when Telia’s Finnish arm was still called Sonera).
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The Nordic carrier earlier this year said it would use Nokia’s FastMile 5G gateway to deliver fixed broadband for customers in Finland. Nokia’s 5G home gateway has a visual display to help customers figure out the best location to place the device to achieve optimal performance, and integrated Wi-Fi features help ensure ultra-broadband connectivity throughout the home. The Finnish equipment vendor’s new FastMile 5G products will support 5G New Radio in both non-standalone (NSA) and standalone (SA) modes.
“We want customers to enjoy the benefits of 5G regardless of where they are, and Nokia is an important partner helping us achieve this,” said Koistinen. “With Fixed Wireless Access solutions like Nokia’s Fastmile 5G Gateway, our customer will be able to quickly leverage our end-to-end 5G network and enhanced services to support all of their ultra-broadband needs in the home.”
Nokia’s announcement with Telia Finland comes one day after rival Ericsson publicized it was selected by Telia as the sole RAN supplier for the operator’s 5G network in Norway.