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Basics[]

Fi

Country code for Finland is +358.

Finland has three national network operators:

  • Telia (by the Telia Group, formerly called Sonera)
  • Elisa (prepaid packages under Saunalahti brand)
  • DNA (by DNA Oyj, part of Telenor Group)

They are supplemented by local provider Ålcom which operates on the Åland Islands only.

Frequencies and coverage[]

2G is on 900 and 1800 MHz, 3G on 900 and 2100 MHz, 4G/LTE on 700 (B28), 800 (B20), 1800 (B3) and 2600 (B7) MHz. In the less populated northern and eastern parts of the country Telia and DNA share one common network called Yhteisverkko covering about 62.5% of Finland’s total geographical area and serving about 28.5% of the population. In 2020 all three networks started 5G NR on 3500 MHz (n78) mostly in the cities and is so far only offered on some supported plans of Telia, Elisa and DNA on prepaid.

All three operators have a very good coverage and high speed at low prices even in remote and rural areas. Because of the extremely heavy data usage in Finland, 5G becomes very important. According to OpenSignal in June 2023, 5G was available to about 24% of the country's land area and had an average download speed of 220 Mbit/s. In 4G availability all three networks are close at around 99% with average download speeds of 58 Mbit/s.

Finland has quite low rates for data and sells real unlimited packages (locally referred to as rajaton paketit) on prepaid. The ubiquitous R-Kioski convenience store chain is the most popular place in Finland for buying prepaid products, especially because R-Kioski outlets always have the best discounts.

Throughout the 2010s and continuing into the 2020s the Finns are world champions in using the most data per SIM card topping at 63.3 GB per capita and month in 2022 (source). This is mostly because many customers choose to either tether their unlimited smartphone data to other devices or use mobile broadband (mobiililaajakaista) due to a relative lack of fixed-line broadband connections especially in rural areas. Yet, the Finnish operators can still manage to maintain a high quality of service.

2G and 3G shut down[]

Finland is one of the few countries where different providers are going to shut down different network generations. Telia, Elisa and DNA have announced plans to shut down their 3G services, starting from the southwest part of the country in winter 2023 and then the northern and eastern parts of the country by the end of 2024, in order to refarm more spectrum for 5G, while keeping their 2G services operational for longer. The only exception is Ålcom which is phasing out its 2G service between spring 2022 and the end of 2023, while keeping its 3G service operational for longer.

Roaming[]

Finland still offers very cheap data and real unlimited domestic rates similar to the Baltic countries and has therefore placed strict limits on the "roam like at home" scheme:

EU flag
Finland is part of the EU, where from 2017 common international roaming rules have been enforced. In most European countries you can now 'roam like at home' at domestic rates rather than excessive roaming rates.

The Finnish regulator has exempted all operators from the principles. That's why Finnish providers were very reluctant to give roaming. In 2020 they all now apply the regulation subject to a rigid FUP with limited allowances at domestic prices. For specifics about the new regulation check the European Union chapter and every provider below.

Telia Finland (previously Sonera)[]

Telia

Telia Company logo

Telia, rebranded from Sonera in 2017, has the most customers in Finland and its coverage on 3G and 4G is equal to Elisa on the Finnish mainland: Telia's coverage map. Unlike Elisa and DNA, Telia operates its own network in Åland. In 2018 4G/LTE reached 98% of population. Telia has opened its 5G network to some prepaid plans in 2022.

General information[]

To check balance, send SMS with 'PREPAID SALDO' to 15400 (for free). The SIM card and account balance is valid for 12 months since last recharge or starting from activation date. You can check the actual expiration time by sending SMS with 'PREPAID VOIMASSA' to 15400 (for free). Also you can check the expiration date in the mobile application.

Also you can use free Telia mobile app to check balance and recharge your account. It's available for Android in Google Play and for iOS devices in AppStore.

International roaming on Telia Prepaid is slowly expanding, and now supports Nordic and Baltic countries (namely Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) as well as "selected EU countries" (Spain, France, Germany, Italy, Greece) on almost all plans.

Recharging[]

You can recharge Telia online using your credit card. Most of international credit cards are accepted. Minimal online recharge amount is €10.

On the payment page you can select to load money only (Saldoa) or instantly buy a package (select Netin käyttöaikaa option, for packages see below).

Also you can recharge with Telia mobile application, almost similar to the website recharging. You can also recharge by cash or credit card in R-Kioski stores in Finland.

Voice and data SIM: Telia Prepaid[]

Their basic prepaid product for voice, text and data is called Telia Prepaid and available at their stores (shop locator), online to be sent to a Finnish postal address or at R-Kiosks (locator). Top-ups are available for 10, 20, 30, 40 and €50. You will get a bonus of €5 for the first 3 top-ups.

The starter pack is usually sold for €5.90 with €7 pre-loaded credits. In R-kioski and other outlets it may be discounted to €3.90. All SIM cards come as 3-in-1 (multi-punch) format, normal, micro and nano.

Default data rate is a low €0.01 per MB with a daily cap of €0.99 per calendar day (0-24 h). Speed is up to 100 Mbit/s on 4G/LTE where available. Usage at this rate is unlimited in Finland and limited to 1.5 GB per calendar day in the Nordics and Baltics, and is not usable elsewhere.

Data-only SIM: Telia Prepaid Netti[]

Their prepaid data-only SIM for tablets, routers or modems is called Telia Prepaid Netti. It should be available at the same stores (see above) as SIM-only for €24.90, sometimes reduced to €17.90 in promotions. It includes "unlimited" high speed traffic in 3G and 4G up to 100 Mbps for 31 days. Roaming is limited to 17 GB.

Data feature packages[]

Telia prepaid SIMs mentioned above can be extended by these 4G or 5G packages:

  • unlimited data packages on up to 5G:
    • €9.90 : 7 days of unlimited data in up to 4G and 100 Mbps (5 GB of data in Nordic and Baltic countries)
    • €19.90 : 31 days of unlimited data in up to 4G and 100 Mbps (10 GB of data in Nordic and Baltic countries)
    • €29.90: 31 days of unlimited data in up to 5G and 300 Mbps (20 GB of data in Nordic and Baltic countries)
  • combo packages with domestic calls, domestic SMS and data for 31 days (not available for Prepaid Netti):
Data Network Roaming

Cap *

Voice SMS Price
1 GB 4G 1 GB 100 mins 100 €9.90
5 GB 5 GB 500 mins 500 €19.90
unlimited 15 GB 5000 mins 5000 €29.90
5G 23 GB €34.90

(*) = roaming only in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, and Greece

EU roaming (in Nordic and Baltic countries and some major EU member states only)[]

Note that international roaming is only possible in Nordic and Baltic countries and some major EU countries: Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Spain, France, Germany, Italy, and Greece. For the default rate, data is only available in the Nordics and Baltics. For full EU-wide roaming better use Elisa or DNA.

More info[]

Saunalahti (by Elisa)[]

Elisa

Elisa Saunalahti logo

Elisa Saunalahti is Elisa's consumer sub-brand, which has very good coverage and speed in Finland. In 2017, B28 on 700 MHz was added for LTE in rural areas. 5G was opened in 2022 for some prepaid plans. Elisa Coverage map

Availability[]

Saunalahti Prepaid SIM cards are widely available from several retailers: Elisa Shops (survey) kiosks like R-Kioski (use "HAE KIOSKI" Button for store locator), supermarkets from S-Group (Alepa, S-Market, Sale, Prisma) and Kesko (K-Market, K-SuperMarket, K-Citymarket) or petrol stations like Shell/St1.

The SIM card is sold for €5.90, when ordered online to be sent to a Finnish postal address. Or normally sold for €5.90 in the shops mentioned above. Both include €6 of credit and no registration or ID are required. Take care: There are various Saunalahti SIM bundles sold at higher prices at local stores, e.g. SIM including 4G/3G hardware or SIM including data, calls and texts for one month.

All new SIM cards come as triple-cut (combined micro-, mini- and nano-SIM). Set system messages language to English by sending SMS message with text ENGLISH to 18258 number. Default PIN code for Saunalahti is 1234.

Extra credits can be purchased from the above mentioned retailers or online. The website accepts many Visa and MasterCard credit cards. Minimal amount to recharge is €10. There are some special offers not available from retailers.

The SIM card is valid for 3 months since activation date and 12 months after the last recharge. Check your account balance by dialling *100# (for free).

Saunalahti has no online page where to get detailed information about your credit and services. There is only the recharge page that tells you how much credit you have, when it expires, and when your promotion expires.

There is no app that gives any information for Saunalahti users.

Default data rate[]

Default rate is €0.066 per MB with a daily maximum of €0.99 for unlimited data (max. 100 Mbit/s on 4G). EU roaming cap is 400 MB per day.

Data feature packs[]

Saunalahti's packages are really unlimited on 3G, 4G and 5G; they only differ in maximum data speed. Using the 5G network requires an active „5G“ package. They offer different combo packages with 5000 domestic minutes/texts and unlimited domestic data:

  • Rajoitukseton 3G: max. 21 Mbit/s for a month: €24.90. Activation: text '3G' to 15020. EU data cap: 9 GB.
  • Rajoitukseton 4G: max. 100 Mbit/s domestic (+Nordic and Baltic*) data for a month: €29.90. Activation: text '4G' to 15020. In the rest of the EU a FUP of 14 GB applies.
  • Rajoitukseton 5G: max. 300 Mbit/s domestic (+Nordic and Baltic*) data for a month: €34.90. Activation: text '5G' to 15020. In the rest of the EU a FUP of 16 GB applies.
  • Rajoitukseton 5G+: max. 600 Mbit/s domestic (+Nordic and Baltic*) data for a month: €39.90. Activation: text '5G+' to 15020. In the rest of the EU a FUP of 18 GB applies.

(*) - A FUP applies to data usage outside Finland in Nordic (Sweden, Norway and Denmark) and Baltic (Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania) countries - if usage exceeds 50 GB, the internet speed will be throttled to a maximum of 0.5 Mbit/s in the Nordic and Baltic countries until the end of the package's validity period.

Furthermore, they offer these unlimited data packages (Nettikuukausi or Nettiviikko) differing in speed:

Price max. Speed EU cap Time Activation
€12.90 1 Mbit/s 4 GB 1 month DATA1M
€25.90 1 Mbit/s 9 GB 3 months DATA3KK
€7.90 200 Mbit/s 3 GB 1 week DATA7
€19.90 50 Mbit/s 7 GB 1 month

DATA50M

€24.90 200 Mbit/s 12 GB DATA200M
€29.90 300 Mbit/s (5G) 14 GB DATA300M

For activation text code to 15020. You can book a new pack ahead of time. This will come in effect when the old pack is terminated. You can check status by texting STATUS to 15020.

An alternative to using your credit to pay your purchases is to go to lataa.elisa.fi and pay the plan of your choice with a payment card (by Visa or MasterCard). Package discount/promotion offers are frequently available on lataa.elisa.fi.

Also on lataa.elisa.fi available is an unlimited 72 hour 5G data plan („Turbo 5G“, €4.99, 72 hours, max. 600 Mbit/s, EU cap 2 GB).

Router offer[]

Only at R-Kioski a starter pack with a router called Saunalahti Prepaid Nettiasema 4G is sold for €59.90. It includes a month of prepaid broadband internet service (max. 100 MBit/s) and an additional €6 credit valid for voice, SMS and data, a router, cables and manual in English. The router is E5576 from Huawei and up to 4G. Additional days after the first free month are €0.99/day (EU FUP: 400 MB) with a calendar month maximum of €19.80. Alternatively, monthly data prepaid packages can be bought.

EU roaming []

The Elisa SIM card will work only in the countries mentioned on this list. Elisa has introduced Roam like at home in the EU/EEA in 2020, but subject to a rigid FUP. You can only use somewhat limited data abroad at domestic rates shown as EU cap. All overuse is either charged at €0.00217/MB for the default rate and the Prepaid Nettiasema 4G package, or €2.23/GB for the Rajoitukseton, Nettikuukausi and Nettiviikko packages. Since 2021 RLAH rules are no longer fully applied for the UK; while calls and SMSes still seem to follow the Price Group 1 rates as in the EU/EEA zone, data roaming is now covered by a separate price floor set at €0.00361/MB (= €3.61/GB).

There is no way to check online the data usage.

More info []

  • APN: internet (for prepaid only)
  • Tethering: allowed
  • Website mostly in Finnish: http://elisa.fi
  • Internet is really unlimited, but P2P networks like BitTorrent etc. are not allowed.
  • Elisa customer service with English option [0240|01019 0240] (local/mobile fee applies). Open Mon-Fri 8am - 7pm, Sat 10am - 4.30pm, Sun closed.

DNA[]

DNA

DNA is the 3rd operator in Finland, yet it offers comparable coverage and very high speeds at good rates: coverage map. In 2019 the majority of DNA shares were sold to Telenor from Norway. 5G was opened in 2023 for some DNA prepaid packages.

Availability[]

DNA prepaid SIM cards are widely available from several retailers: online to be sent to a Finnish address, at the kiosks of R-Kioski (locator), K-Market stores (locator), Neste K petrol stations (locator), at the stores of Suomalainen Kirjakauppa (locator) or at post offices (Posti/Itella) (locator). No registration or ID required.

You can buy top-up vouchers from R-Kioski, K-kauppa and Neste K station (see above) with cash or card, also you can recharge online (using international Visa/MasterCard credit card or with Finnish bank accounts). You can also recharge using Otto-ATM (with a Finnish credit or debit card).

Upon purchasing, when you top-up your not yet activated DNA Super Prepaid or DNA Rajaton Prepaid, you'll get a 5 EUR top-up bonus (in Finnish called Ensilataus or Ensilatausetu).

For balance inquiry the best method is to use prepaid self-service at m.prepaid.dna.fi (free of charge) or downloadable DNA Prepaid app.

They have these different prepaid products on offer:

  • DNA Rajaton Prepaid: SIM card with voice, SMS, MMS and data
  • DNA Super Prepaid: SIM card with voice, SMS, MMS and data
  • DNA Dataprepaid Tablet: data-only SIM without text or voice, no roaming

DNA Rajaton Prepaid[]

DNA Rajaton (= unlimited) Prepaid starter packs cost €4.90, including €5 of credit. The starter package contains SIM card of 3 sizes (cut out).

They charge by the day and the charge is deducted for each day, no matter if you are actually using it, until credit runs out. This is unlike Elisa, that only charges for the days when the SIM is used. You can however halt the daily charging, but it costs €5.00 to do so. They offer only one rate:

  • Unlimited domestic voice, SMS and 4G/5G data: €0.89/€1.19 per day (€26.70/€35.70 per month, EU FUP: 450/540 MB per day)

A day starts from midnight and ends at midnight. EU cap is 450 or 540 MB per day, depending on 4G or 5G package.

DNA Super Prepaid[]

DNA Super Prepaid starter packs cost €4.90, including €5 of credit. The current starter packages contain a SIM with mini, micro and nano cutouts.

Data has a maximum charge of €0.99 per day with unlimited domestic data only (EU cap: 450 MB per day) on the days when data are used.

These data packages can be added as alternative choice. They all offer unlimited data:

Name EU cap max. Speed Extras Time Price
Rajaton 7 vrk 2.6 GB 100 Mbit/s unlimited dom.

calls and text

7 days €7.90
Rajaton 30 vrk 8.1 GB 30 days €24.90
Rajaton 5G 30 vrk 13.4 GB 400 Mbit/s 30 days €34.90
Rajaton 90 vrk 21 GB 100 Mbit/s 90 days €64.90
Tehonetti 30 vrk 5.4 GB 100 Mbit/s 30 days €19.90
Hypernetti 30 vrk 8.1 GB 300 Mbit/s 30 days €24.90
Hypernetti 5G 30 vrk 13.4 GB 400 Mbit/s 30 days €29.90
Laitenetti 180 vrk (*) 9.7 GB 0.5 Mbit/s upload speed 5 Mbit/s 180 days €29.90

(*) As mentioned by DNA, the Laitenetti plan is mainly intended for IoT and M2M devices such as trail cameras and therefore should not be used with a smartphone, tablet, laptop or dongle.

You can activate packages on their mobile website or online when you have enough loaded credit. Surcharges are applied to EU/EEA roaming, according to the list below.

DNA Dataprepaid[]

DNA Dataprepaid are data-only packages for laptops and tablets. Starter pack with unlimited data for 30 days is €24.90 (up to 400 Mbit/s).

Mini, micro and nano SIMs are available. 4G/LTE and now 5G/NR has been opened for this product line and download speed is up to 400 Mbps where 5G is available. International roaming outside Finland is now available on this plan. All Dataprepaid SIM cards can be extended by these data packages:

Name EU cap Time max. Speed Price
Dataprepaid rajaton 7 vrk 3.6 GB 7 days 300 Mbit/s €7.90
Dataprepaid rajaton 30 vrk 11.2 GB 30 days 100 Mbit/s €19.90
300 Mbit/s €24.90
Dataprepaid rajaton 5G 30 vrk 13.4 GB 400 Mbit/s €29.90
Dataprepaid rajaton 90 vrk 29.1 GB 90 days 300 Mbit/s €59.90
Dataprepaid 10 Gt/90 vrk 10 GB 30 days €19.90

The top-ups can be purchased online (using international Visa/MasterCard credit card or with Finnish bank accounts) or in a store (e.g. R-kioski) where you get a scratch card. The code on the scratch card needs to be entered here. EU roaming is now enabled on Dataprepaid plans under FUP rules.

EU roaming (UK excluded in the EU zone)[]

All DNA Prepaid subscriptions and packages come with a FUP allowance at domestic rates shown as EU cap. If the usage exceeds EU data FUP, a surcharge of €2.232/GB will be applied. Full EU roaming info at dna.fi/euroaming. Note, that the UK is not included in their EU zone anymore and data roaming is at high €0.059 per MB (= €59 per GB !!!).

More info[]

Ålcom (on the Åland Islands)[]

Alcom

Ålcom is a local provider of GSM, 3G and 4G/LTE mobile; fixed telephony, broadband, ISP services and IPTV operating only in the autonomous Finnish region of the Åland Islands. It also runs a LTE 450 MHz network in partnership with Edzcom (formerly Ukkoverkot).

Ålcom is connected to Finland by roaming agreements with Elisa and DNA, so customers of Elisa/Saunalahti and DNA can roam without surcharges in the network of Ålcom and Ålcom clients can roam on Elisa on the mainland. Because Finland is the main gateway to the islands, and other countries with direct access to Åland (Sweden and Estonia) are also covered by EU roaming agreements, few travellers will need a special SIM card for the Ålands.

Be aware that Ålcom does NOT offer 4G on prepaid, so roaming in will result in faster speeds than purchasing a prepaid SIM.

Availability[]

Ålcom has a prepaid product too that is sold in their stores. The SIM card is for €30 and data at 7.5c per MB by default. These two data packages are offered:

  • unlimited data for 7 days: €25
  • unlimited data for 40 days: €59

Roaming data in the EU/EEA (outside Finland) is not included and cost high €7.40 per GB.

More info[]

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