NIB financing Elisa’s 4G & 5G network investments in Finland and Estonia

NIB and the Finnish telecom operator Elisa Corporation have signed a EUR 100 million loan agreement related to the expansion of the company’s 4G network and building up the 5G mobile network in Finland and Estonia.

The maturity of the loan is seven years. The focus of the investment is to increase the coverage, speed and capacity of the mobile network, with the specific aim of further expanding the 4G network and building up the 5G network.

The investment programme will improve mobile network quality in terms of speed, capacity and latency times. The roll-out of 5G networks will start over the coming years, and it requires investments in the network infrastructure. Maintaining and developing the quality of network infrastructure has significant, immediate benefits in the NIB member region, as it increases the speed and capacity of the network.

“The loan to Elisa facilitates the expansion of 5G infrastructure in Finland and in Estonia. Investments in 5G are vital for the productivity of the Nordic–Baltic companies, as the new mobile network generates the knowledge accumulation in our member-region’s technology sector”, says Henrik Normann, NIB President and CEO.

“The needs of our customers as well as new applications and services require more and more features and speed. The investment funding from NIB will in part ensure that we can provide our customers with access to the very fast network and completely new services enabled by 5G”, says Veli-Matti Mattila, CEO of Elisa.

Elisa is over 135-year-old telecommunications, ICT and digital service company, and the market leader in mobile subscriptions in Finland. The company has the widest 4G coverage in Finland, reaching 99% of the population. Elisa serves over 2.8 million customers in Finland, Estonia and further afield.

NIB is an international financial institution owned by eight member countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway and Sweden. The Bank finances private and public projects in and outside the member countries. NIB has the highest possible credit rating, AAA/Aaa, with the leading rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.

For further information, please contact
Mr Olli Lempiäinen, Senior Manager, Origination, at +358 10 618 0525, olli.lempiainen@nib.int

Ms Niina Rantti, Communications Officer, at +358 10 618 0265, niina.rantti@nib.int