HELSINKI, Finland—Finnish operator Sonera plans to offer commercial UMTS services by Sept. 26, once terminals for the new services become available, the operator announced. If the carrier meets the deadline, the network will be one of the first commercial third-generation systems in Europe.
Sonera currently operates a test UMTS network in the greater Helsinki area, Tampere, Turku and Oulu. “From the very beginning, our goal has been to introduce easy-to-use services that are seamlessly connected with people’s everyday lives,” said Anni Vepsalainen, executive vice president responsible for Sonera Mobile Operations.
Finnish vendor Nokia Corp. is supplying most of Sonera’s UMTS infrastructure.
A UMTS network on the Isle of Man operated by Manx Telecom is currently the only commercially operating 3G network in Europe.
