HELSINKI, Finland—Sonera opened its third-generation network in Finland on Jan. 1 in line with its license conditions. However, commercial service will not begin until UMTS phones become available to consumers.
There is no firm indication from handset vendors or operators as to when UMTS phones might become commercially available. Sonera said it anticipates the UMTS market in Finland will widely begin in 2004 and 2005.
The network operates in the four largest towns in Finland, Helsinki, Oulu, Tampere and Turku, and will be expanded in the future based on commercial demand, the carrier said. Until commercial service begins, the Finnish network will be used for testing.
The operator said the total costs for building its Finnish 3G network will be about $451.7 million from 2000 to 2009. Ericsson and Nokia provided the equipment for the UMTS system.
In addition to Finland, Sonera has 3G holdings in Spain, Italy and Germany.
