HELSINKI, Finland-Finnet, the Helsinki-based umbrella association for 40 local telecom operators in Finland, has adopted an aggressive position to competing with rival operators Sonera and Elisa for mobile and fixed-line telephone customers. Elisa is the parent company of the network operator Radiolinja, the country’s second-largest mobile services provider.
Finnet has traditionally operated as a lobbying and cooperative body for 40 local telecom operators. Under its new strategy, Finnet is to become fully incorporated, with affiliate telecom companies merging into the new parent holding company, Finnet Corporation, by year-end.
The telecom associates of Finnet currently hold a market share of 15 percent of all mobile and fixed-line capacity in Finland. The mobile segment of this share is just 2 percent. Finnet has made it public that one of its first actions as an incorporated company will be to invest in mobile telephony.
Tele2, holds 27.44 percent of the shares in Suomen Kolmagee, which is a member and soon to be shareholder of Finnet. Suomen owns one of the country’s four Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) licenses. In addition, Finnet is expected to bid for Telia Mobile’s network in Finland, a business with 167,000 subscribers, a 4.3-percent market share and a UMTS license. Telia Mobile is currently ranked Finland’s third-largest mobile network operator after Sonera and Radiolinja.
However, Finnet’s strategic objective is to capture a market share of 25 percent of the mobile and fixed telephony market by 2006 in Finland. To achieve this target, the company will need to take market share from both Sonera, which holds 61 percent, and Radiolinja, which holds 30.4 percent.
Finnet would appear to have recovered from a serious blow to market growth suffered when Elisa left the association in 2002. The largest members of Finnet include mobile operators DNA and 2G. The combined revenues of all Finnet members totaled US$550 million in 2001.
