Eesti Mobiiltelefon (EMT-TeilaSonera) has said that it remains on-track with its fourth-generation network rollout, having launched Long Term Evolution-based (LTE-based) services back in December 2010. The cellco has said that since inaugurating the network it has built a total of 130 LTE-capable base stations covering around 35% of the country’s population, and has noted that in 2012 it expects to roll out a further 200 4G cell sites as it looks to extend the service nationwide by end-2014. EMT also noted that, according to the results of checks carried out by the Estonian Technical Surveillance Authority (ETSA) in February and March of this year, it is on track as far as its commitments to the network rollout go; having pledged to deploy 100 4G base stations in 2011, it said that in the end, it actually surpassed that, constructing 106 over the twelve-month period. The results of speed measurements by the ETSA, meanwhile, have reportedly shown that the average download speed over EMT’s LTE network is 40.2Mbps, while the maximum speed stands at 70Mbps.
EMT has also claimed that it invested more than EUR20 million (USD26 million) in mobile internet by end-2011, noting that, in addition to its 4G rollout, it had also deployed 328 new 3.5G base stations, with a further 30 old cell sites having been replaced over the year. EMT’s 2G infrastructure has reportedly seen something of a revamp too, with the mobile network operator saying that 220 2G base stations were replaced in 2011, while 60 new base stations were built and 160 new repeaters were installed.