Case municipalities of Posio and Viitasaari

Wireless Broadband Improves the Service Selection of Municipalities

Digita Oy’s @450 broadband network can be utilised in the development of business and in increasing the number of services offered by municipalities also in sparsely populated areas. Wireless network makes the operations of enterprises and municipalities alike more efficient. Productivity can be increase by as much as tens of percent by optimising logistics and by making better use of information systems.

Better, More Efficient Services as a Goal

The wireless broadband network offers a new kind of innovation platform for an increasing number of industries. Information can be utilised anywhere, anytime, because the data in fixed offices will also be available in the field. Information will be freely available independent of time and place, for example in building maintenance and nursing.

Case-specific information in building maintenance can be accessed using, for example, a laptop computer, which means that the required tasks can be carried out swiftly and reporting can be done on site. If the piping data of the municipal water management unit can be retrieved in real-time on site, the fault can be repaired without delay and the data can be recorded to the log.

Quick treatment instructions and referral to care are crucial in nursing, particularly in the case of an acute condition. In some cases, further information from databases or physician is needed, which means that the possibility to send images to support analysis is a significant asset. Mobile broadband speeds up data communication and significantly improves operational reliability.

Wireless broadband linked with positioning services improves the routing, reporting and distributing of vehicles and mobile employees. Once the office travels with you, you can go directly to your place of work in the morning and carry out the necessary reporting from the client’s premises, which will save both time and kilometres. For example, as much as 40 percent more time can be allocated for care work in district nursing.

Ageing of the population puts more pressure on healthcare resources. The key to solving the problem will be more efficient use of resources and distribution of work. The situation in joint municipal boards is similar.

Posio and Viitasaari Will Lead the Way

The municipality of Posio will roll out a wireless broadband network to cover the entire municipality in order to offer better services for its residents and enterprises. Mobile broadband will also benefit the thousands of holiday-home users in the region, because it will significantly improve possibilities for remote work.

Thanks to the co-operation of the municipality of Posio, Digita and the service operator, the rollout period greatly shortened and the network will be completed by the end of 2007. The new network will significantly improve the business opportunities of numerous rural and other entrepreneurs in the area, in addition to which it also provides the municipality with new opportunities. The ADSL quality connections will offer new opportunities in logistics, advertising and communications. Pilots improving and utilising the municipality’s service supply will be developed in the fields of , for example, building supervision, district nursing and nursing.

In the municipality of Viitasaari, the rollout of Digita’s @450 broadband network commenced in September 2007 and new base stations are being opened to meet the demand. In the first stage, mobile broadband connection was available for the resident, holiday-home visitors and boaters in the shores of the Keitele Lake and in the Kymönkoski-Toulat area. In addition to remote work opportunities, clear advantages of the network include the availability of banking, VOIP calls, Internet-based map services and real-time public transport schedules and routes in holiday homes.