Why Finland is home base for Nokia?

Until the 1990s, Finland was considered a remote and sleepy country in the northeastern corner of
Europe, lying in the shadow of its large neighbor Russia.Finland had been part of Sweden for six
centuries until 1809, when it was ceded to Russia. By 2001, however, Findland had become one of the
fastest growing and most competitive economies in the world. After independence, national public
telecommunications operator(PTT), Telecom Finland, was established to operate the network left
behind by Russia. The PTT was not only an operator but also the regulatory body for industry.

Finns had been early adaptors of mobile phones. Finland was among the world leaders in mobile
penetration.They were also been early to adopt the internet in late 1980s,led by students.

Operators : In 2001,there were over 100 telecommunications operator in Finland, though most of them
utilized leased network capacity. Finland granted licenses for 3rd generation systems( called UMTS) to all
four GSM operators on March 16,1999, the first country in the world to do so.

Content providers : There were over 300 Finish companies engaged in the provision of digital content,
including media, services (e.g banks and travel agencies) and internal portals. An expanding numbers of
services were targeted at professional groups (eg. Health care and education).Nokia offers tools and
support for entertainment services.

Equipment manufacturers : Nokia was dominant equipment manufacturer in Finland, producing both
handsets and infrastructure

Suppliers : A large number of specialized suppliers and contract manufacturers had emerged in
Finland,in part driven by growth of Nokia.