Large scale Estonian mobile company readied
While the unofficial NMT network was under construction in Tallinn the next step was already being prepared: a full scale Estonian mobile phone company. The enterprise was developed in contacts between leading Estonian politicians and representatives from the Swedish and Finnish telecom companies. At a meeting at the Televerket customer center in central Stockholm in September 1990 the parties signed a letter of intent on the matter; Estonia was represented by the Deputy Minister of Transport Jaak Ulman.
Shortly afterwards, STI and Tele Finland entered into a partnership agreement on mobile phone services in all three Baltic states.
The articles of association and shareholder agreement for Eesti Mobiltelefon (EMT) were finalized in April 1991. The agreement was established in accordance with the Soviet form for joint ventures, signed in Tallinn and forwarded to Moscow for approval. The Estonian state had a 51 percent shareholding and STI and Tele Finland each had a 24.5 percent stake.
Sweden and Finland having equal shareholdings was the end result of a fight, but suited the Estonians. They had had fifty years experience of a big brother dictating terms and conditions.
To ensure that the commercial base would be on solid ground, the EMT board demanded a permanent license for mobile traffic as a condition for major investment. Jaak Ulman went to Moscow to discuss the matter and explained that he would not go back until he had the license in his pocket. It took him several weeks, but quite correctly, he did not return empty handed, he had the license with him.
However, before EMT opened for business, Raine Mönkkönen called Matti Makkonen. It was in the afternoon of 17 August 1991 and Makkonen was looking for mushrooms in the woods. Mönkkönen posed the following question: "Can we open the mobile network such that the Estonian ministers can talk to the whole world?" Mönkkönen’s question was in response to rumors that Russian troops were preparing to take action in Estonia. The restrictions in place meant that the ministers could only make calls within the country and to Finland and Sweden.
Makkonen said yes they could. Two days later, on the morning of Monday 19 August 1991, the world woke to the news that a group of communist hardliners was attempting a military coup in the Soviet Union.
As feared the Russian troops soon occupied the TV tower in Tallinn, under orders to block the NMT system. However, the Russians encountered an unexpected obstacle - the tower lift was not working. They were forced to use the stairs. When they finally climbed the over one thousand steps to reach the observation area of the tower with its restaurant, they needed a breather and made a beeline for the stock of alcohol there. This effectively put a stop to the action.
The lift had been put out of action by a matchbox that someone had wedged in the lift to stop the door closing. At some point, the occupiers reached the NMT room, but were unable to force the solid steel door despite firing numerous shots at it.
“It was possible to make international calls all this time. This was my small contribution to the liberation of Estonia,” says Makkonen.
By day three it was clear the Russian coup had failed. In response to this, a long list of former Soviet Republics declared independence shortly afterwards.
The attempted coup did not delay work on getting EMT established. “One of the first and most important tasks for the board was to show our Estonian friends that those of us from Finland and Sweden were not a new Moscow. We developed a very positive relationship and the composition of the board remained pretty much unchanged with good results right up to the end of the millennium,” says Makkonen, who was chair of the board throughout this period.
The first exchanges for the mobile network in Estonia were ordered from Ericsson. Nokia was not even considered, the fact that the company had been a long term supplier to the Soviet Union meant it was highly suspect.