Tele2 embarks on Estonian upgrade programme

Estonian mobile operator Tele2 Eesti has begun a network expansion project under which it plans to build 434 new base transceiver stations (BTS), with almost half of these sited in Tallinn and the surrounding Harju County. The cellco says it is looking to increase 4G LTE coverage from 96% of the population at the start of 2017 to more than 99% by the end of the year, surpassing its 2G and 3G network footprints. The firm is also installing LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) equipment to increase peak theoretical speeds to 375Mbps in urban areas and 225Mbps in rural regions. According to Estonia’s telecoms regulator, the Technical Regulatory Authority (Tehnilise Jarelevalve Amet, TJA), Tele2 provides average real-world 4G speeds of 52.5Mbps.