EMT says 95 pct of Estonia's territory now covered by its 4G network

Photo: Mihkel Maripuu / Postimees

In accordance with the commitment taken upon winning a license for the additional frequency of 800 megahertz at the end of May, EMT's 4G/LTE network covered 95 percent of the territory of Estonia as of June 16, the mobile operator said on Monday.

Previously EMT used the 1,800 and 2,600 MHz frequencies to build its network and it will continue using combined frequencies also in the future.

EMT said that higher frequencies enable better quality and allow to offer clients higher data transmission speeds in densely populated areas.

Under the original network development plan EMT intended to cover 95 percent of the territory of Estonia with 4G network by the end of this year, but winning the 800 megahertz frequency license enabled us to do it already in the first half-year," the technology director of EMT, Tiit Tammiste, said.

4G enables speeds of up to 150 Mbps, along with a significantly shorter delay between the modem and the base station, Tammiste said.

EMT launched Estonia's first 4G network in 2010. It has opted for LTE (Long Term Evolution) technology in 4G, meaning that a completely new network is built for 4G.

The rival operator Elisa meanwhile said on Monday that measurements of EMT's LTE800 network commissioned by them showed EMT's 4G mobile internet network to cover less than 78 percent of the territory of Estonia as of the afternoon of June 17, compared with 95 percent required under the terms of the license.

Some places, such as the islands of Hiiumaa and Saaremaa, are lacking coverage in one-third of their territory. No signal at all could be identified in the areas of Audru, Tostamaa, Sangaste, Ikla, Haademeeste, Kulitse, and Torvandi, Elisa said.

«In accordance with the terms of the license EMT has set up 199 base stations, but the speed of mobile internet is below the required 5 Mbps in at least 22 percent of Estonia and the strength of the signal does not meet the license requirements in more than one-fifth of Estonia as on Monday afternoon,» said Priit Roosipuu, CEO of the company Pemetel OU that carried out the measurements.

«EMT won the frequency tender because it promised to the Technical Surveillance Authority to complete the LTE800 network by a deadline which in the estimate of Elisa was obviously unrealistic from the start,» Elisa Estonia CEO Sami Seppanen said.

In the tender, EMT offered to have the network ready by June 16, Elisa by July 26 and Tele2 by Dec. 20.

«Shortcomings which cannot be accepted make it possible for the Technical Surveillance Authority to strip EMT of the license. /.../ Right now it seems that the tender was won by unfair means. I hope that the Authority's response will be prompt and resolute,» Seppanen added.