Read our newest article on Mobile Data Speeds in Finland from 2020

Benchmarking Mobile Data Bitrates

DNA Finland contracted Omnitele to measure and compare the data speeds in Finland offered by mobile service providers DNA, Elisa and Telia in 15 major cities in Finland. The benchmark focused on the data rates available with each service provider’s highest level data plans (unlimited data volumes, highest data rate) targeted to consumer segment.

Measurements were conducted during November, December 2017 and January 2018. The tests were conducted in drive testing fashion and the routes covered city centres, residential areas and main roads in the cities.

Operators’ data speeds and ranking order varied on per location basis. The results, however, give a good overview of the operators’ average data speeds and the differences in the measured areas.

Download Results

The highest average download data speed 54 Mbps was measured with DNA’s subscription. The corresponding figure was 47 Mbps for Elisa and 40 Mbps for Telia.

DNA had the highest average data speed in 12 of the measured cities. Telia had the highest average data speed in two of the cities and Elisa in one.

Upload Results

In the upload measurements, the highest average data speed was observed with Telia (26 Mbps), closely followed by DNA (25 Mbps) and Elisa (23 Mbps).

DNA’s average upload data speed was the highest in 8 of the 15 measured cities, Telia having the highest average upload data speed in six cities and Elisa in one.

Technical Considerations

Operators’ data speed results had strong correlation with the observed 4G LTE network signal strength and quality. All test devices operated in 4G LTE about 99% of the time. The most remarkable differences in the observed data speeds primarily correlated with the utilisation rate of advanced LTE features, 2CC (Two Component Carriers) and 3CC (Three Component Carriers) LTE Carrier Aggregation.

Considering the most typical use cases such as web browsing and video streaming, the measured data speeds enable excellent mobile service experience with all the measured service providers. The results of all three operators were excellent, even on an international comparison.

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