An important milestone in the rise of the ICT cluster was the early liberalisation of the telecommunication sector in Finland, which heightened competition, drove prices down, and led to the growth of mass markets for wireless communication, providing a test laboratory for the equipment industry.
Standardisation among the Nordic countries, in particular the common Nordic NMT standard of mobile telephony, gave an early start for the internationalisation of the mobile telecommunication industry. The later GSM standard was a result of a European research and standardisation effort, and opening of the telecom market in Europe gave access to new entrants in telecom services.