[dogma1138]

>There are five mobile operators in Finland: Elisa, Sonera, DNA, Ålcom and Ukko Mobile.

Sorry still counting 3, as Alcom and Ukko don't really "count" Alcom is a regional operator for the Aland islands this isn't unusual.

Don't know about Ukko or what they cover, can't even figure out if they are an MVNO or not their wikipedia entry says that they operate LTE 31 which makes them sound like a rural/remote region operator since that's what most of these low bands are used for.

If they indeed operate on the LTE 31 band this also means they are a speciality carrier which also means they have to provide you with their own devices since I'm not aware of any mass market consumer device which supports B31.

And a quick look on their website does seem to suggest that they provide cellular internet and speciality connections to mostly remote areas, mostly through roaming and partnerships (MVNO) with other cellular providers.

EDIT: You can count Ukko out completely they do not provide voice at all not to mention that paying 85 Euros on a 12 month contract for 3-10 Mbit/s without a device is laughable.

http://www.ukkoverkot.fi/tuotteet/?lang=en

>There are similar numbers of mobile operators in most countries because there is only so much spectrum to go around. However there is a great deal of difference in the amount of wireline broadband providers per country.

The cellular spectrum especially in regards to 4G LTE channels is pretty damn large, and most countries started with more than 3-4 cellular providers they just had decades of consolidation since then.

[nordify]

> Don't know about Ukko or what they cover, can't even figure out if they are an MVNO or not their wikipedia entry says that they operate LTE 31 which makes them sound like a rural/remote region operator since that's what most of these low bands are used for.

Ukko is an MNO, not an MVNO. They hold a national license for the 450 MHz band which they use to provide data services in all of Finland.

Here is their coverage map: http://www.ukkoverkot.fi/kuuluvuus/

> If they indeed operate on the LTE 31 band this also means they are a speciality carrier which also means they have to provide you with their own devices since I'm not aware of any mass market consumer device which supports B31

Correct.

> The cellular spectrum especially in regards to 4G LTE channels is pretty damn large, and most countries started with more than 3-4 cellular providers they just had decades of consolidation since then.

Not all LTE bands are available in all countries.

[dogma1138]

>Not all LTE bands are available in all countries.

That's something which is easy to change if there was a will, LTE bands mostly "replace" the older mish mash of bands and technologies that were deployed in various countries. This is why the both cover the GSM bands as well as TDMA/CDMA and even oddities like iDEN. So for the most part they are an easy transition, if you as a carrier already "owned" the rights for band X you usually would not have to secure a bid for that band again to use it for 4G/LTE.

With almost 70 bands you could easily push towards more carriers, however the competition and market forces seem to push towards consolidation since they buy in and the maintenance costs for the infrastructure are so high and overall margins could potentially be quite slim, looking at AT&T and Verizon their margins are only around 10-12% on average.

[nordify]

> That's something which is easy to change if there was a will

You don't really believe that, now do you?

Clearing the usage of new frequency bands is a huge regulatory undertaking involving multiple countries. It takes years and massive effort even when there is a very strong will and a clear need.

[nordify]

> EDIT: You can count Ukko out completely they do not provide voice at all not to mention that paying 85 Euros on a 12 month contract for 3-10 Mbit/s without a device is laughable

Tell that to somebody who would have to rely on satellite if it were not for Ukko. And it's not like you can't run your choice of VoIP over that.