Estonian mobile network operator Eesti Mobiiltelefon (EMT) has revealed that it expects to offer its LTE-based services to 95% of the country by the end of this year. With the operator continuing to roll out its 4G infrastructure – which utilises both 1800MHz and 2600MHz spectrum – the cellco has claimed that its LTE network currently covers 75% of the Estonian population. Further, EMT has highlighted the increasing popularity of its 4G services, claiming that over 30% of its mobile data subscribers are now signed up to an LTE tariff.
EMT’s chief technical officer, Tiit Tammiste, has meanwhile said that the operator is interested in procuring 800MHz frequencies when they are auctioned later this year. It has been suggested that, if it does bag such spectrum, it will be used in rural areas, though not for 4G services.
As noted in TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, in the Estonian Technical Surveillance Authority’s (ETSA’s) December 2010 auction of 2600MHz spectrum, EMT bagged not only 2×20MHz of frequency-division duplex (FDD) spectrum but also laid claim to two 20MHz blocks of time-division duplex (TDD) spectrum. It swiftly moved to inaugurate commercial LTE services just a few days after the sale process was concluded, having initially launched LTE trials in the capital Tallinn in March 2010.