Photo: Stock.Xchng

Finland becomes the world’s first country where broadband access is a legal right for every citizen. You read right, Finland has made having access to the internet a right.

Starting yesterday, 1 July 2010, every Finn has a right to broadband connectivity of 1Mbps at a minimum. With a reported 96% percent of Finland’s population already compliant with the law, only another 4000 homes need to get broadband access. As if the fact that the entire nation will be on broadband is not a big enough deal, the Finnish government has committed to upping the minimum speed everybody has a right to 100MB per second by 2015. That’s a 100 times increase in Finland internet speeds in five years as a legal right.

Why the move

Finnish communication minister, Suvi Linden, who oversees Finland internet strategies, told the BBC why this was such a big deal, saying: “We considered the role of the internet in Finns everyday life. Internet services are no longer just for entertainment.” She continued, saying “Finland has worked hard to develop an information society and a couple of years ago we realised not everyone had access”. So, taking a very progressive move, the government made it law, now compelling telecommunications companies to provide service to every citizen. How’s that for a progressive government

How does the UK stack up?

By comparison, broadband penetration in the United Kingdom is at a respectable 73%. At governmental level, one major campaigning point of the recent elections was how fast a connection and to how many people each party could deliver British citizens. In comparison, the ConDem government has committed to delivering 2Mbps broadband to every home come 2012. But it does not appear that they will make having the Internet a right, as well.

This is one example of government intervention in telecommunications having a positive impact on ISPs and widespread broadband connectivity. Sure, the challenges locations like the UK, with its dispersed population are more difficult to circumvent than those faced by countries with high population density, like Finland, but solutions do exist. Making the Internet a right, a basic human right like free speech and freedom of religion is as progressive as it gets. And it’s no wonder the Finland Internet services and networks are among the best in the world.