Finland Makes Last Commercial Landline Call as Elisa Retires Network

Finland has witnessed the final commercial nationwide landline call, as telecommunications operator Elisa officially retired its copper-wire network. The symbolic call was made between Elisa CEO Topi Manner and Jarkko Saarimäki, the Director-General of the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency (Traficom).

During the call, Manner and Saarimäki shared personal anecdotes about their experiences with landline phones, recalling childhood memories and the etiquette surrounding their use. Saarimäki recounted needing to schedule calls in advance during a language course in London, while Manner remembered brief conversations with friends due to time limitations.

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When I was first here in London on a language course, we called home once a week and had to arrange the time in advance so that the person on the receiving end would be at the phone.

Elisa's decision follows similar moves by Telia and DNA to discontinue their landline services. The primary driver for this change is the drastic decline in landline usage, with Elisa reporting only a few thousand remaining subscriptions at the end of last year, a stark contrast to millions in the early 1990s. The aging infrastructure of the copper-wire network, making spare parts and technical expertise scarce, also contributed to the decision.

While the national commercial service has ended, customers can still use landline-style phones by installing a SIM card for mobile networks, provided their device supports the technology. It is also possible to transfer landline numbers to mobile subscriptions.

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In older age, we had short conversations with friends, because for a long time you couldn't chat in the middle of the house.