Finnish authorities signed a ten-year deal with operator Elisa and Ericsson to supply the country’s upgraded critical communications network, covering 4G, 5G and IoT infrastructure.

The contract was awarded through a tender from state-run Erillisverkot Group, which is responsible for Finland’s national communications networks (named Vivre) covering public authorities, emergency responders and other related services.

Given the location and an existing 5G contract with Elisa, it is notable Nokia was not selected as the infrastructure supplier, albeit there was no mention of whether the Finnish vendor opted to participate in the tender process.

Elisa noted the upgraded network would use imaging and video to provide a better and more up-to-date view of operations by critical service providers, with the IoT element allowing automatic monitoring of rescue personnel and use of drones.

The operator added it would provide the “world’s most advanced” public safety network.

In its statement, Ericsson said the network was expected to be operational in mid-2021 with all public services scheduled to migrate to the new the platform by 2025.

Erillisverkot CEO Timo Lehtimaki said it expected the project to enable “seamless cooperation between the authorities and other public safety operators, crucial in daily life but also in crisis situations.”

The deployment uses Ericsson’s 5G Core on a common cloud-native platform, with network functions virtualisation infrastructure, dynamic orchestration and VoLTE products also included.