Finland ends nearly 150 years of landline service as fixed-line network goes silent

Dubai: Finland has officially switched off its nationwide fixed-line telephone network, bringing nearly 150 years of landline service to an end as the country completes its transition to modern digital communications.

The final nationwide landline call was made on Tuesday, June 30, before telecommunications operator Elisapermanently retired its copper-wire network for both residential and business customers.

The symbolic last call was placed between Elisa Chief Executive Topi Manner and Jarkko Saarimäki, head of Finland's Transport and Communications Agency, who lauded the role landline telephones once played in everyday life before ending the conversation with the Finnish farewell, "kuulemiin" - "speak later."

Finland's landline network dates back to the 1880s and was once among Europe's most widely used telephone systems. By the 1960s, the country ranked seventh in Europe for landline subscriptions, while household landline ownership peaked in the early 1990s.

The rapid rise of mobile technology, led in part by Finnish telecommunications giant Nokia, steadily reduced demand for fixed-line services over the following decades. Elisa said only a few thousand customers still relied exclusively on landline connections when it announced plans to retire the network earlier this year.

The move follows similar transitions by other operators. Telia discontinued its fixed-line service in 2019, while DNA ended support for landline networks at the beginning of 2026.

Finland now joins countries including Estonia, the Netherlands, Norway and Spain, which have phased out nationwide analogue landline networks in favour of fibre-optic infrastructure capable of supporting both internet and voice communications.

After Tuesday, only a small number of local operators will continue providing limited fixed-line services in parts of the country.