DNS - Finland Acknowledges Citizen's Right to "Information Access"

The Government of Finland has passed a new law under which the country's telecommunications companies will be required to provide its citizens with an Internet connection with a minimum of 1 Mbps. 

 

By doing so, Finland has become the acknowledged leader in Internet access, as every citizen will now have an Internet connection. Notably, the country has less than about 4,000 people who currently do not have a broadband connection.

 

Perhaps this is in stark contrast to other nations, where broadband access has never been viewed in the light of a right, in fact, it has been regarded more as a service to be rendered, and therein, lies the fundamental difference.

 

In this age of technology, where the Internet is no longer only a source of entertainment but a veritable source of information, the Finland government seems to be doing its bit to ensure that access to information reaches even the periphery of the population spectrum.

 

When one looks around, there does seem to be a lot of sense in what Finland has done. Video services, and many web-based applications such as Skype (News - Alert), require a broadband connection to work. In the 21st century, the very basic act of communication and leading our daily lives appears to be rooted in an Internet connection, and by making broadband a legal right, and the Finnish Government recognizes this fact.

 

 'We considered the role of the Internet in Finns' everyday life. Internet services are no longer just for entertainment,' Finland's communication minister Suvi Linden told the BBC, and added that Finland had worked hard to develop an information society and it was only a couple of years ago that the government realized that not everyone had access.

 

Linden said that the new law was passed in order to amend that and by the year 2015, the Finnish government would offer broadband access of 100 Mbps to every resident.

 

The Finnish ruling has come in for a lot of criticism, for the bid to combat net piracy would to some extent seem nullified. 'We will have a policy where operators will send letters to illegal file-sharers but we are not planning on cutting off access,' Linden, said.

 

U.K.'s Labor Government promised to offer every Briton a 2 Mbps Internet connection, and the current coalition government has pledged to keep that promise. However, unlike what Finland did, the British Government will not consider it a legal obligation.

 

Will and can more countries follow suit? If they do, would the broadband connection be a service that is offered, or will it be a "legal right" to which every citizen is entitled to? To what extent will Internet service providers tow the line, and how will phone and cable companies tackle the aspect of net neutrality? Time will tell, and it will be interesting to watch the broadband drama unfold itself.