Finland First Country to Declare Broadband Access a Legal Right
Sunday, October 18, 2009
One upping the French, Finland has become the first nation to declare high-speed Internet access a right of all its people. While France was the first country in the world to establish the right of accessing the Web, the Finns have made history by promising broadband speeds for everyone within their borders. The government in Helsinki announced on Wednesday that by next July, all Finns will enjoy at least 1 Mbps for their Internet service. Earlier this year, lawmakers established the goal of 100 Mbps by the end of 2015.
According to the government-run Statistics Finland, 83% of Finns had used the Internet in spring 2008 and 66% used it daily, which is a remarkable turnaround from eight years ago when only 12.1% of the population had Internet access.
-Noel Brinkerhoff
Finland Guarantees Right to Broadband Internet Access (by Aaron Saenz, Singularity Hub)
Changes in Internet Usage. Results from the 2008 Survey on ICT Usage (Statistics Finland)
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