---
title: "Fibre takes over Finland | Heikki Kaunisto | Negotiator 216"
titleOriginal: "Valokuitu valloittaa Suomen | Heikki Kaunisto | Neuvottelija 216"
episodeNumber: "216"
guest: "Heikki Kaunisto"
datePublished: 2023-10-17
duration: "46:40"
youtube: "https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI"
originalLanguage: "fi"
topics: ["finnish_economy_policy","investing_markets"]
subtitleMethod: "none"
provenance: "Owner page assembled from YouTube metadata, the neuvottelija.fi episode record and the publisher's own chapter marks, translated one for one; their spacing is irregular and matches the recording. No transcript is published here — the channel has no English caption track for this episode and the Finnish one is YouTube's automatic track. The episode was made in commercial collaboration with Valokuitunen Oy and the guest is its chief executive, so every claim about competitors comes from one side; the long-form write-up in the Neuvottelija AI editions states that and separates the structural observations from the pitch. Negotiator 335 is the same guest and company two years later."
fiCanonical: "https://www.neuvottelija.fi/fi/episodes/600-valokuitu-valloittaa-suomen-heikki-kaunisto-neuvottelija-216"
canonical: https://www.neuvottelija.com/podcast/episodes/ep216-valokuitu-valloittaa-suomen-heikki-kaunisto/
---
# Fibre takes over Finland | Heikki Kaunisto | Negotiator 216

English subtitles are not available on this page. This is an episode summary, not a curated transcript.

## Chapters

- [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=0s) Heikki Kaunisto of Valokuitunen: why invest in the home connection
- [01:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=68s) Upload speed matters more as remote work grows: mobile is built to download
- [02:11](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=131s) A ticket queue that tolerated no upload errors
- [03:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=216s) Bandwidth, capacity and symmetry: why fibre beats mobile at the same headline speed
- [05:36](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=336s) Lock in the speed when the fibre is built, not when you order
- [07:17](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=437s) Why the open model is best for the consumer, and why price comparisons need caution
- [08:39](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=519s) Fibre does not really age: capacity is raised at the endpoints
- [10:01](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=601s) Sweden and Finland are at different stages, and Nokia's effect on Finland
- [12:12](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=732s) Switching between 3G, Edge, 4G and 5G, and the pricing spikes fibre avoids
- [13:19](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=799s) The technical development of fibre
- [14:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=855s) Open against closed structure: a small initial investment against the cost of use
- [15:58](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=958s) There are no free lunches and no free connections
- [17:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=1020s) Norway's closed model against Sweden's open one: a road against a toll road
- [18:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=1096s) Questionable investment criticism in a trade paper
- [20:54](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=1254s) Valokuitunen's debt is financed by a broad bank syndicate
- [21:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=1305s) Misconceptions about equity, hedging interest rate risk, and the owners
- [25:14](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=1514s) Fibre in cities, suburbs and at summer cottages: a strategic project for a small municipality
- [28:24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=1704s) Building a fibre connection: distances between houses, and how many there are
- [32:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=1936s) Individual cases damage the industry's reputation; Valokuitunen plans area by area
- [33:42](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=2022s) Money buys special implementations, including ski resorts
- [35:46](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=2146s) Valokuitunen as an agile growth company
- [37:55](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=2275s) Customer service: a chatbot example against address-based service
- [39:06](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=2346s) Valokuitunen's customer numbers and market share; adoption is still low by Nordic standards
- [41:16](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=2476s) Fibre construction offsets the slump in general construction
- [42:13](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=2533s) The industry creates added value in Finland
- [43:30](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=2610s) Getting by is not enough
- [45:24](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=2724s) Both are needed: mobile, and a fast consistent home connection
- [46:02](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI&t=2762s) Inner Circle 24: leading and financing growth companies

## Summary

A commercial collaboration with Valokuitunen Oy, whose chief executive is the guest. What survives the sales pitch is structural: why Nokia's legacy explains Finland's lag in fibre, the difference between the open and closed network models — a free connection is paid for later in the service fee — and why competition happens before construction and therefore produces disappointed customers. Also the asymmetry that matters for remote work: mobile networks are designed to download rather than upload.

## What holds up

Three things. A free connection is not free — in a closed structure the initial investment
returns through the service fee, and the total cost rises over the years. Competition in
this market happens before construction rather than after it, which is why the people in
an area the losing bidder wanted end up disappointed. And mobile networks are built to
download rather than upload, which is the real reason they fail remote work, not headline
speed.

## What to read as the pitch

The competitor comparisons, the customer satisfaction claims and the assessment of the
company's own financing. The guest owns the argument and the episode is paid for.


## Watch

The recording lives on the Neuvottelija channel: [Valokuitu valloittaa Suomen | Heikki Kaunisto | Neuvottelija 216](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oC90Tf_EwyI).
A Finnish edition of this episode is published at [www.neuvottelija.fi](https://www.neuvottelija.fi/fi/episodes/600-valokuitu-valloittaa-suomen-heikki-kaunisto-neuvottelija-216).

## In depth

The Neuvottelija AI editions carry a long-form write-up of this episode:
[English](https://www.neuvottelija.com/ai/ep216-valokuitu-valloittaa-suomen-heikki-kaunisto/) · [suomeksi](https://www.neuvottelija.fi/economy/ep216-valokuitu-valloittaa-suomen-heikki-kaunisto/).

---

Cite as: Sami Miettinen, Neuvottelija — Fibre takes over Finland | Heikki Kaunisto | Negotiator 216, https://www.neuvottelija.com/podcast/episodes/ep216-valokuitu-valloittaa-suomen-heikki-kaunisto/, 2023-10-17. For quotes include episode 216 and timestamp.