Broadband is a legal right in Finland
July 19th, 2010
Broadband access is now a legal right for Finnish citizens. As of the 1st of this month, Finns have the right to access a 1Mbps (megabit per second) broadband connection. The move came as the Finnish government identified broadband access as a priority, and has stated that it aims to provide the whole population with 100Mbps by 2015.
96% of the Finnish population already has access to the internet. The new law will mean internet providers will be expected to fit Finnish households who aren’t already connected with broadband lines. Before the law was implemented, certain parts of Finland were restricted in terms of internet access. Now more rural parts of the country will be able to experience the same kind of connection speeds that the other parts of Finland already has.
The view that fast internet is a necessity for everyday life is shared by other nations too; in fact the USA is the only industrialised country which doesn’t have a policy to promote high speed internet access to all of its citizens. The British government has made a promise (though not a law) to supply all homes with connections speeds of 2Mbps by 2012.
