Elisa Finland launches first 5G standalone with Slicing

Elisa, in partnership with Ericsson , have commercially launched a 5G standalone (SA) network, bringing the most advanced mobile connectivity available to Finland. 

With Elisa’s new 5G standalone network powered by Ericsson’s dual-mode 5G Core, Elisa introduces 5G SA as a new premium service to its customers. Adding to this, customers are offered home broadband through Fixed Wireless Access (FWA). The new mobile service provides lightning-fast speeds, stable and uniform connectivity, and Elisa estimates up to 50 percent lower latency compared to non-standalone (NSA). Battery life of devices connected to the 5G standalone network will also last up to 15–20% longer.  

Ilkka Pohtola, the director responsible for consumer subscriptions at Elisa says: “In addition to the user benefits and power savings, the 5G standalone network will continue to improve the energy efficiency of the mobile network, consuming less energy per unit of data transferred than older network technologies”. 

The new 5G SA network gets added to Elisa’s existing 5G network, which already covers more than 90 percent of the Finnish population.  

By utilizing network slicing, a technology that reserves parts of the network to provide tailored services for different applications and users, Elisa paves the way for new innovation opportunities and next generation use cases including applications for events, gaming, smart factories and connected vehicles and more. 

Nora Wahby, Head of Customer Unit Northern, Ericsson says, Ericsson, says: “The way consumers engage with 5G is changing, creating a world of new opportunities to offer and capture 5G value. Elisa has been a longstanding pioneer in this field, and this latest development is a significant milestone to further accelerate next-generation digitalization in Finland.”