Broadband News
News, views and analysis
Legal right to broadband in Finland
14 Oct 2009 | 20.26 Europe/London
Finland has become the first country in the world to declare broadband access a universal right for all its citizens. The news comes as it's revealed three quarters of sixteen to twenty-four year olds in Britain say they can't live without the Internet.
By July next year, Finland's population full population - all 5.3 million people - will officially have the opportunity to get online. While ninety-six per cent of Finland already has broadband at its disposal, the country's communications minister, Suvi Linden, says government action is needed to reach its far-flung rural areas. As with the conclusions of the Digital Britain team, her view is that "regionally equal communications infrastructure will not come about without state action." Or, in other words, the market doth not provide across the board.
Critics of Digital Britain may be surprised to note that the statutory connection speed will be a mere 1Mbit/s - half that of Lord Carter's proposed bandwidth for the UK by 2012. However, this is just a stop-gap measure: the Finnish government's already committed to giving everyone in its domain a connection of 100Mbit/s by 2015. And what's more, its communications minister, claims even that's a modest target - and that Helsinki will be enjoying connections measured in gigabits by then. "Data connections are no longer entertainment but a necessity," Harri Pursiainen says.
Now the UK Government's back in session after the summer break, parliament's been hearing that almost half of young people over here claim they're happiest online; three-quarters say they "couldn't live" without Internet access. Research from charity YouthNet also reveals that even though forty-three per cent of sixteen to twenty-four year olds know someone who's been the victim of an online scam, seventy-six per cent say the web's a safe place "as long as you know what you're doing."
Professor Michael Hulme of Lancaster University, who authored the survey, calls these people "Digital Natives" (almost echoing the six "Digital Tribes" TalkTalk unveiled earlier this week). They've grown up in a technological womb and have emerged with "hybrid lives," communicating in more sophisticated ways than their forebears. As an "ever on" generation, seventy-six per cent of the almost one thousand youths asked said the net meant their friends could be reached "whenever they need them." Meanwhile, nearly a third of "Digital Natives" eschew face-to-face opportunities to get advice when they can turn to websites instead.
"For young people the internet is part of the fabric of their world and does not exist in isolation from the physical world," said Professor Hulme. "In the future, as access becomes ever more mobile, multi-platform, faster and with richer media - in other words ever on and everywhere - the need and demand for advice through the internet will become even more critical."
The UK Government's advisor on children and technology has welcomed the findings. "The ease of access to opinion, support and advice is of course appealing to a generation who have grown up with immediacy," Professor Tanya Byron says, "but it's essential the adults and organisations that provide support to this age group recognise this, and offer services that are easily accessible through the Internet." Now, wouldn't it be nice if the Government could make the Internet and its services over here as "easily accessible" as they're going to be in Finland?
Further details at the Helsinki Times
By July next year, Finland's population full population - all 5.3 million people - will officially have the opportunity to get online. While ninety-six per cent of Finland already has broadband at its disposal, the country's communications minister, Suvi Linden, says government action is needed to reach its far-flung rural areas. As with the conclusions of the Digital Britain team, her view is that "regionally equal communications infrastructure will not come about without state action." Or, in other words, the market doth not provide across the board.
Critics of Digital Britain may be surprised to note that the statutory connection speed will be a mere 1Mbit/s - half that of Lord Carter's proposed bandwidth for the UK by 2012. However, this is just a stop-gap measure: the Finnish government's already committed to giving everyone in its domain a connection of 100Mbit/s by 2015. And what's more, its communications minister, claims even that's a modest target - and that Helsinki will be enjoying connections measured in gigabits by then. "Data connections are no longer entertainment but a necessity," Harri Pursiainen says.
Now the UK Government's back in session after the summer break, parliament's been hearing that almost half of young people over here claim they're happiest online; three-quarters say they "couldn't live" without Internet access. Research from charity YouthNet also reveals that even though forty-three per cent of sixteen to twenty-four year olds know someone who's been the victim of an online scam, seventy-six per cent say the web's a safe place "as long as you know what you're doing."
Professor Michael Hulme of Lancaster University, who authored the survey, calls these people "Digital Natives" (almost echoing the six "Digital Tribes" TalkTalk unveiled earlier this week). They've grown up in a technological womb and have emerged with "hybrid lives," communicating in more sophisticated ways than their forebears. As an "ever on" generation, seventy-six per cent of the almost one thousand youths asked said the net meant their friends could be reached "whenever they need them." Meanwhile, nearly a third of "Digital Natives" eschew face-to-face opportunities to get advice when they can turn to websites instead.
"For young people the internet is part of the fabric of their world and does not exist in isolation from the physical world," said Professor Hulme. "In the future, as access becomes ever more mobile, multi-platform, faster and with richer media - in other words ever on and everywhere - the need and demand for advice through the internet will become even more critical."
The UK Government's advisor on children and technology has welcomed the findings. "The ease of access to opinion, support and advice is of course appealing to a generation who have grown up with immediacy," Professor Tanya Byron says, "but it's essential the adults and organisations that provide support to this age group recognise this, and offer services that are easily accessible through the Internet." Now, wouldn't it be nice if the Government could make the Internet and its services over here as "easily accessible" as they're going to be in Finland?
Further details at the Helsinki Times