The Estonian Technical Surveillance Authority (ETSA) has granted mobile network operator Elisa spectrum in the 800MHz band following a frequency auction. With the cellco saying that it will utilise its new spectrum to offer LTE-based services, it claims to have already deployed 4G infrastructure nationwide, and it expects to launch commercial services as soon as its new concession is formally awarded.
As noted in TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, in April 2012 Elisa opened an LTE network in the 800MHz band in collaboration with the Estonian Broadband Development Foundation (EBDF) as part of ‘EstWIN’, the project undertaken by the Estonian government aimed at making 100Mbps internet services accessible to every Estonian citizen by 2015. That month, in launching the network in Kobela, Voruuma and the town of Haapsalu in Laane county, Mr Seppanen suggested that Elisa would look to the 800MHz band for its LTE deployment as it offered a faster route to extending coverage. In May 2013, however, the first batch of 800MHz frequencies offered by the government was awarded to rival operator EMT.