Although BaseN is not primarily known as an Internet Service Provider (ISP), the company decided to build an ultra-fast fiber network to Degerö which is a country side region of Inkoo in western Finland. The region naturally had wireless 4/5G connectivity, but it was clearly not reliable or performant enough for the demanding clientele.
BaseN has built the network in the Degerö area from scratch to ensure a fast, secure and reliable connection for the inhabitants. BaseN took the initiative to coordinate all the necessary elements and subcontractors from excavation all the way to the laser light in the buildings.
Before the deployment of fiber cables, the maximum wireline capacity was at 24 Mbits downstream and 1 Mbit/s upstream. With the completion of this project, the capacity is now at 1000 Mbit/s downstream and upstream, with simple 10000 Mbit/s per second upgrade path for the customers.
‘’I was disappointed with the quality of the existing connectivity and hence we decided to do something about it” says Pasi Hurri, President and CEO of BaseN.
When the global pandemic reached Finland, it quickly became the new normal to work remotely and many businesses and employees had to adapt to the new situation quickly. This affected those living in remote areas like Degerö particularly hard, as the existing capacity was poor. While people have been offered hefty megabits by wireless operators, the reality has been quite different what comes to a reliable and stable connection. The island location also poses special challenges to radio communication.
“The Corona pandemic accelerated digitalization and made the ability to participate remotely in media-rich virtual environments a professional necessity. Before BaseN took the initiative to build a fiber connection for the households in Degerö, remote working was like forestry with a hand saw: cumbersome and very slow. With the installation completed, the speed and quality of the new broadband connection is actually better than in my office in downtown Helsinki, says Philip Aminoff, Finnish economist, entrepreneur, business leader and board professional.
”For the past year and half, business models and even our daily routines have changed due to the pandemic. We all became more dependent on uninterrupted and fast Internet connections due to digital transformation. Staying connected has become more important than ever before and smaller towns and rural areas such as Degerö don’t always have a fast and reliable connection due to their remote location. Luckily, BaseN took the initiative to deploy fiber optic network in Degerö”, says rally driver Marcus Grönholm.
