Having access to the Internet has moved quickly from being a fun luxury to a necessary part of an informed society. Providing everyone with the ability to access high-speed Internet is something many countries have in mind for their citizens. In fact, a poll conducted for the BBC World Service revealed that nearly four out of five people worldwide believe Internet access is a fundamental right.
The Finnish government agrees, and yesterday (July 1), became the first country to make broadband access a legal right.
“We considered the role of the Internet in Finns everyday life,” Finland’s communication minister Suvi Linden told the BBC. “Internet services are no longer just for entertainment.”
Telecommunications companies will be required to ensure that all residents have Internet connections of at least 1 Mbps (megabytes per second). They plan to increase the speed requirement to 100 Mbps in the next five years.
“Finland has worked hard to develop an information society and a couple of years ago we realised [sic] not everyone had access,” said Linden.
Other countries, such as the UK, plan to roll out their own access requirements, too. They will have a bit more work cut out for them than Finland, though. The UK estimates 27 percent of residents need high-speed Internet while only 4 percent of Finns are without access Only about 4,000 homes need to be brought up to speed in Finland, which will be an easy feat. The UK plans to provide a minimum of 2 Mbps to every household by 2012.
If a proposed National Broadband Plan gets implemented here in the US, in ten years time it would increase Internet access to those going without. Health care, education and government institutions would also benefit from increased access to information and networks.
Photo by fd via Flickr.