Finland’s DNA is the latest operator to turn attention to the 900 MHz spectrum band, stating it is “constructing hundreds of UMTS 900 MHz base stations” throughout the country. The base stations will be ready for commercial use in the next few weeks and are suitable for providing 3G services. The company aims to cover “all major municipal population centres and residential and recreational areas” during 2009. The operator – Finland’s third largest with 1.5 million customers and a 22 percent market share – notes that it is also continuing building its 3G network in the more common 2100 MHz frequency band.

Domestic rival Elisa earlier this year claimed to have made capex and opex savings of between 50 and 70 percent by deploying 3G services in the 900 MHz rather than 2100 MHz spectrum band. Elisa became the world’s first operator to launch a commercial WCDMA 900MHz network in November 2007, deploying WCDMA 900 MHz in suburban and rural areas to complement its urban coverage, which uses 2100 MHz. 900 MHz spectrum is deemed particularly suitable for expanding mobile broadband into less populated areas as it offers improved radio-wave signal strengths at lower frequencies, providing greater reach than the 2100 MHz band. End-user data speeds are also around the same for 900 MHz and 2100 MHz systems, but 900 MHz can provide the same geographic reach with fewer than half the number of cell sites. Siminn, Iceland’s largest mobile operator, has also recently committed to using 900 MHz spectrum for 3G in rural areas. However, current EU legislation restricts use of the spectrum to 2G services only.