Introduction
In our first look at the 5G experience in Finland, we found an extremely competitive mobile network experience landscape. Out of seven awards for the taking, six award categories resulted in a tie between multiple operators, with the remaining one — 5G Games Experience — being the only category featuring an outright winner, DNA.
The three Finnish mobile operators have very similar 5G spectrum positions, which likely help explain why we observed so many ties across our 5G award categories. In fact, DNA, Elisa and Telia all secured the same amount of spectrum in the recent 700 MHz, 3.5 GHz and 26 GHz 5G spectrum auctions.
After initially launching its Home 5G service in December 2019, DNA began selling 5G mobile subscriptions in January 2020 and by November 2021 covered 53% of the population with 5G, available in more than 124 locations.
Elisa started pre-selling its 5G mobile devices and plans in May 2019, ahead of a full commercial launch in the following month. By October 2021, Elisa’s 5G network reached over 60% of the population in nearly 130 locations.
Telia introduced its first 5G devices and subscriptions in October 2019, and by October 2021 the operator covered 54% of the population with its 5G network.
Not only operators’ 5G coverage has expanded, but 5G adoption in Finland has also been gaining momentum in 2021. In fact, in their Q3 interim reports DNA, Elisa and Telia all reported that 5G models represented the majority of new mobile phones sold.
In this 5G Experience report, we analyzed our users' 5G experience in Finland on the three national operators — DNA, Elisa and Telia — over 90 days starting on August 1, 2021, ending on October 29, 2021.