Finland is a Nordic country located in the northern part of Europe. It is described as “gorgeous” and is often referred to as the happiest country in the world. Finland is becoming a popular tourist destination because of its beautiful landscape, winter sports, and stunning nature. Finland is also a very expensive country hence it is not recommended to use your home network SIM card as the roaming charges are exorbitant. The best way to avoid the hefty roaming charges is to buy a local SIM card or a tourist SIM card in the country. Finland has three providers of SIM cards you will learn about in the coming sections. Without further delay, let’s start discussing them.
1. Elisa Finland
Elisa is the largest wireless carrier in Finland. It is also the first provider of SIM cards in Finland to introduce unlimited data plans. It operates in Estonia too, and it is the largest telecom company there. Elisa operates on 2G, 3G, 4G/LTE, and 5G NR frequencies. It provides extensive network coverage even in remote areas. Elisa’s prepaid SIM card is known as Saunalahti Prepaid. This SIM card is available for 5.90 EUR with a 6 EUR default credit in it. Its SIM cards are available in all the official Elisa stores, grocery/convenience stores, and R-Kioski. In fact, they sell more Elisa prepaid SIM cards than the Elisa stores. Luckily there are more than 500 R-Kioski throughout the country.
An Elisa SIM card gets deactivated automatically after 12 months of inactivity. This means if there is no top-up or no incoming/outgoing calls or SMS for 12 months continuously then the SIM card will no longer be useful. Elisa’s top-up vouchers are available in some official stores only as they deal more in postpaid services. However, they are easily available in R-Kioski and post offices. Recharge can also be done through POS (point of sale) systems and international debit/credit cards too. Data is quite cheap in Elisa as you can get unlimited data for a mere 0.99 EUR/day, making it cost around 29.70 EUR per month. It is a great deal for short-term visitors.
2. Telia Finland
Telia is the second-largest wireless carrier in Finland and is also active in the Baltic and Nordic regions. The carrier operates on 2G, 3G, 4G/LTE, and 5G NR frequencies. It has extensive coverage throughout Finland, and even in the remote areas of the country. A Telia prepaid SIM card is known as Prepaid Liittmyä. You can buy the prepaid SIM for 4.90 EUR with 7 EUR credit in it. These SIM cards are available in Telia stores, R-Kioski, and other grocery and convenience stores. The operator also provides a data-only SIM card called Prepaid Netti. It is available for 24.90 EUR with unlimited data per month.
Telia top-up vouchers are available in the denominations of 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 Euros. They are less likely to be available in official stores but are easily available in R-Kioski and post offices. You can also reload your Telia prepaid SIM with a POS system where you visit a retailer dealing with top-ups like R-Kioski. You only need to ask them to recharge your Telia prepaid number. Moreover, you can also recharge using the official online portal by using your international debit/credit card. Also, there is an official mobile app by the company called the Telia Prepaid Top-Up App to recharge and check the balance of your prepaid account. The app is available on Google Play Store as well as Apple App Store.
3. DNA by Telenor
DNA, the last entry on our list of leading SIM cards to buy, is the smallest telecom service provider in Finland. However, it boasts the fastest speed among all its competitors in Finland. DNA operates on 2G, 3G, 4G/LTE, and 5G NR frequencies. It has awesome coverage and even the remote areas are fairly covered under its network. DNA provides two types of prepaid SIM cards called Super Prepaid 4G and Rajaton Prepaid 4G. Both are available for 4.90 EUR. It also provides a data-only SIM card called Data Prepaid which is available for 24.90 EUR. All three prepaid SIM cards have different validity if left dormant for a long time. Super Prepaid 4G remains valid for 380 days, Rajaton Prepaid 4G for 225 days, and Data Prepaid for 240 days.
DNA top-up vouchers are available in the denomination of 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 50, 70, and 100 EUR. Both SIM cards and top-up vouchers are available n DNA stores, R-Kioski, and other grocery stores. Recharge via POS system is also available. You can top up your DNA prepaid by using international debit/credit cards too. However, only debit and credit cards issued in the US, Canada, Russia, Europe, and a few other countries can be used for the job. But, the preferred way of recharging involves using the official mobile application called the DNA Prepaid app. It is available for Android and iOS users alike.