--- title: Finland Builds Satellite Connections No Businessman Can Switch Off description: Finland, Nokia and ICEYE are building satellite networks Europe and Ukraine control, treating internet access as a necessity no business can switch off. author: Dr Marina Nani (Editor-in-Chief) date: 2026-10-31T09:00:41.250Z updated: 2026-10-31T10:52:09.821Z canonical: https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/finland-satellite-sovereignty image: https://cdn.nanimediahouse.com/pexels-11929487.webp categories: EU Focus, Science & Tech content_type: Feature region: Finland, Europe publication: Sovereign Magazine about: - type: Place name: Finland --- Right now, Finland is acting on a simple idea: an internet connection is not a new pair of shoes. It is what keeps your phone working and the communication that lives depend on running: ambulances reaching hospitals, families reaching each other and soldiers reaching their commanders. A connection that a single businessman can switch off is not one Europe can build its safety or its progress on. In the past ten days, Finland has moved from saying this to doing it. Finnish companies Nokia and ICEYE are working with Ukraine on [a satellite network that Ukraine itself will control](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/ukraine-obria-nano-satellite-starlink-alternative), and from 1st January 2027 Finland's armed forces will run their own military satellites. ## In Kyiv, Finland signed up to build Ukraine its own network On 22nd October, Prime Minister Petteri Orpo was in Kyiv, where Ukraine and Finland signed seven agreements that President Volodymyr Zelensky valued at €300 million. One of them was a letter of intent between Ukraine's Ministry of Defence and two Finnish companies, ICEYE and Nokia, to explore a sovereign low Earth orbit broadband system that Ukraine itself would control: the satellites, the ground stations and the terminals. ICEYE, founded in Finland and based in Espoo, builds and operates radar imaging satellites that see through cloud and darkness, and it has supplied Ukraine since 2022. Nokia brings secure networks and ground infrastructure. The two firms announced a partnership on government satellite communications on 1st October. Mikko Hautala, chairman of Nokia's defence business, said the project would give Ukraine control over the connectivity it depends on. Neither company has published a timeline or a cost, and both describe the system as a complement to existing networks rather than a replacement for Starlink. Ukraine will keep using Starlink for years. If the plan goes ahead, it will no longer have only one option. ## The Finnish commissioner in Brussels kept Starlink in, but shrank its share The most consequential Finn in this story works in Brussels. Henna Virkkunen, a former Finnish minister, is the European Commission's Executive Vice-President for Tech Sovereignty, Security and Democracy. On 27th May she proposed new rules for the 2GHz band, the slice of radio spectrum that lets satellites connect directly to ordinary mobile phones. The current licences, held since 2009 by Viasat and EchoStar, expire in May 2027, and SpaceX agreed in 2025 to buy EchoStar's spectrum licences in a deal worth around $17 billion. Under her plan, a block for government use, including [Europe's future IRIS² constellation](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/eu-iris2-66-defence-satellites-2029-launches), would go only to EU operators. Of the commercial spectrum, half would be held for new European entrants and half left open to everyone. Starlink and Amazon could compete for, at most, one third of the band. Reuters reported that at least one commissioner wanted American operators excluded altogether. Virkkunen resisted a full exclusion. If anyone in Brussels was in a position to shut Starlink out of Europe's phone spectrum, it was the Finn who chose not to. ## Washington has threatened 'devastating' retaliation On 18th October, the US ambassador to the EU, Andrew Puzder, told the Financial Times that European companies could face devastating retaliation in the American market if Brussels went ahead. In March, Brendan Carr, chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission, had already warned the EU against favouring European providers. The proposal still needs the approval of the European Parliament and EU governments, and Washington has not specified what the retaliation would be. ## Finland's own soldiers take charge of their satellites in 2027 On 30th October, the Finnish Air Force announced that a military Space Operations Centre will open on 1st January 2027. It will take over the three ICEYE radar satellites the Defence Forces bought in 2025, and Finnish personnel will run them directly from 1st April 2027. The centre will also coordinate space activity with NATO allies. Poland has already followed the same model of buying ICEYE satellites and operating them in-house. ## What this means for you If you run a farm, a boat or a remote business on Starlink anywhere in Europe, nothing changes this winter. Your service is legal and nobody is switching it off. The change is in who holds the switch for the things that cannot fail: military links, emergency services and the phone signal in places with no mast. In 2026, [internet independence](https://www.sovereignmagazine.com/article/what-does-sovereign-tech-actually-mean-for-europe) is as basic as having your own water and your own power. Europe already has the pieces: Nokia's secure networks, ICEYE's satellites, the 290-satellite IRIS² constellation on its way and proposed spectrum rules that would open the door to European operators from 2027. Finland has shown how a small country can put those pieces to work and keep the switch at home. Every country in Europe can follow.