Poor mobile coverage delays emergency calls in Lappeenranta border villages

A resident of Haapajärvi village near the eastern border suffered a heart attack two years ago, but repeated attempts to call emergency services failed due to poor mobile coverage, Yle reports.

The neighbour eventually reached Helsinki’s on-call medical service via Wi-Fi and was instructed to contact the emergency centre. When the ambulance arrived, its crew also found their phone connection non-functional. Contact was only restored en route to Kotka, where the patient was taken directly to surgery and survived.

Kikka Vuorela, who lives in the same border area, described another incident where she tried desperately to warn her 17-year-old son Eelis, who was in the forest with the family dog while a bear with two cubs was nearby. After dozens of failed attempts, the call finally connected, allowing her to advise him to make noise on his way home.

Vuorela said such connection issues are routine. “We’re living on a knife’s edge here,” she told Yle.

The family has filed complaints with their mobile operator but seen no improvement. Antti Vuorela, Kikka’s husband, said operators do not respond because the area lacks sufficient commercial incentive.

Telia stated that coverage and 5G functionality in Lappeenranta’s border villages are “extremely good,” matching national standards. DNA reported receiving only a few dozen complaints about connectivity in the border region this summer. Elisa suggested that some interference may originate from Russian activity near the border.

Local business owner Teuvo Hietasara, who runs Nutikka dance pavilion, said 5G does not work at his venue, forcing reliance on 4G. He noted that connectivity has worsened since the 3G network was decommissioned in 2024, with disruptions particularly affecting evening events.

Traficom, Finland’s transport and communications agency, acknowledges significant regional variations in network quality.