Elisa, TeliaSonera and DNA Win Radio Spectrum Auction for 4G Services

Finland has closed its auction for spectrum in the 2.5–2.69 GHz band, with the key Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) block ideal for 4G LTE services going to Elisa, TeliaSonera, and DNA. The available spectrum has been divided up into three 20-year licences, with Elisa bidding 834,700 euro (US$1.247 million) and TeliaSonera Finland bidding 810,200 euro for two 50-MHz blocks, while DNA bid 675,700 euro for a 40-MHz tranche.

The Finnish regulator Ficora also auctioned a 50-MHz block of Time Division Duplex (TDD) spectrum, suitable for 4G WiMAX networks, to Pirkanmaan Verkko, who bid 1.47 million euro on behalf of the Finnet alliance of local operators.

The radio spectrum auction, the first of its kind in Finland, closed after five days and 27 rounds of bidding, and will net the Finnish government some 3.8 million euro. The results of the auction will now be submitted to the Finnish Parliament next year, along with operator proposals on the use of such spectrum, before full service licences are granted to the operators.

Outlook and Implications

• Full Steam Ahead for 4G in Finland: Finland's communications minister has stated that the auctioning process went as expected, and that Ficora will now assess the results of the auction and the impact it will have in future. The Finnish government has already awarded the three largest mobile operators (Elisa, TeliaSonera, and DNA) spectrum in the 1,800-MHz range for the launch of 4G LTE services, the first time spectrum at such a low frequency has been set aside for 4G (see Finland: 24 April 2009: Finland Allocates New 4G Frequencies to TeliaSonera, Elisa, DNA). Finland's operators are forging ahead with trials of LTE, with TeliaSonera recently claiming the world's first commercial launch, with the deployment of base station technology in neighbouring Sweden (see Sweden: 26 May 2009: TeliaSonera Claims Europe's First Commercial LTE Site). Equipment vendor Nokia Siemens says it has already sold LTE-ready base stations to some 80 operators around the world, and is now predicting that the first LTE services will be launched before the end of the year, with mass deployments in 2010, with even the pro-WiMAX U.S. market is opening up to the possibilities of LTE (see United States: 16 September 2009: Clearwire CEO Opens Up LTE Switch Possibility).

• The Increasing Importance of Mobile Broadband in the Nordics: The Finnish government plans to offer high-speed broadband connections with a speed of at least 100 Mbps to nearly all Finns by the end of 2015, with the first stage to secure broadband of at least 1 Mbps by July next year (see Finland: 15 October 2009: Finland First to Make Broadband Access a Legal Right). The communications ministry in the country has stated it thinks wireless networks will play an important role in that plan as they would speed up the exchange of information with mobile phones and laptops, as part of the increasing trend towards mobile-only communications services in Finland.

• LTE as the Key 4G Standard: Chinese equipment vendor ZTE has recently teamed up with Spain's Telefónica and Hong Kong operator CSL to launch joint LTE trials, leveraging FDD LTE access equipment and evolved packet core (EPC) technology (see Spain: 23 June 2009: ZTE to Trial LTE with Telefónica, CSL in Q3). Elsewhere, Alcatel-Lucent has teamed up with China Mobile to deploy a TD-LTE (LTE technology for the TDD spectrum) trial network next year, providing indoor coverage for two pavilions at the World Expo 2010. The trial will provide advanced mobile services including ultra-high-speed Internet access and HDTV at the exposition (see China: 19 November 2009: China Mobile Selects Alcatel-Lucent to Roll Out TD-LTE Trial Network at World Expo 2010), and hopes to bridge the divide between LTE technology and TDD spectrum services such as China's TD-SCDMA. As the Finnish auction shows the country is once more among the leaders in 4G technology, LTE is rapidly becoming the key standard for worldwide 4G roll-out.