Finland Makes Ultra Fast Broadband A Legal Right

In what can be seen as a sign of things to come, Finland has become the latest country to make fast broadband access a legal right and aims to connect every household with a 100Mbps connection by 2015.

The move can also been seen as an effort to bring reliable broadband service to places which have not been adequately covered on the digital map and as a initial goal it would look give access to a one mbps connection to every Finish citizen by 2010.

Expressing her views on the development, Laura Vilkkonen, the legislative counselor with the Finish Ministry of Transport and Communications mentioned “We think it's something you cannot live without in modern society. Like banking services or water or electricity, you need Internet connection.” 

The move by the Finish government highlights the increasing importance of internet in the lives of people and it can encourage other countries in Europe to follow suit in order to bridge the digital divide. 

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Incidentally the government in UK too has been looking at ways to increase the internet penetration the country and Digital Britain report brought by Lord Carter earlier this year was seen as an important step in that direction. 

Our Comments
Finland and Scandinavian countries in general have been at the forefront of technology and access to internet for sometimes. It comes therefore as no surprise that one of them came first with the idea to make fast internet access a compulsory requirement rather than an optional addition to one's everyday living.

Related Links
Fast Internet access becomes a legal right in Finland
(CNN)

Finland makes broadband access a legal right
(Guardian.co.uk)

Finland Declares Broadband Internet a Legal Right
(mobilewire.co.uk)