One of Finland’s largest telecom operators, Sonera, reported problems with its telephone and data communications in Central Finland on Tuesday. There were also disruptions in network services from the other main operator, Elisa, near Jyväskylä.
Elisa’s 2G and 3G base stations in the municipality of Hankasalmi were out of service. The company said this was because an optic fibre linked to the base stations was damaged during construction work in the centre of the town.
The break in service has caused major headaches for Hankasalmi’s health clinic, where all phone connections and access to patient records and the appointment system are cut off.
Health officials urged those with urgent medical problems to come directly to the clinic rather than trying to call.
Elisa said that broadband internet services were functioning normally.
Sonera, meanwhile, said that landline phone services in the city of Jyväskylä were down due to an apparently-unrelated system error. Since Tuesday morning, Sonera was also plagued by a mobile data fault that blocked web access from many smartphones throughout the country. The situation had improved, but had not been fully corrected by mid-afternoon.
