Finland's right to broadband: kind of like access to electricity, water
Summary: When it comes to broadband as a legal right, maybe Finland has it right.
The government in Finland has made it official: access to a broadband connection of at least 1 megabit per second is now a legal right for the residents of that country. And by 2015, the government hopes to impose minimum connection of 100 mbps to its residents.
Granted, Finland is a small, sparsely populated country and about 96 percent of the country is already connected, according to a BBC report, so the whole legal right thing doesn't bring about any immediate change.
Still, broadband as a legal right is an interesting concept. Increasingly, as the Internet becomes the pipeline for all types of information, its presence in any home in any country is more like that of a utility, comparable to electricity, water or a telephone. And like those instances, the utility is simply available. The service isn't provided. Consumers still have to pay to turn the service on and a monthly bill for usage.
The only thing that's required of the power companies or water companies is to make sure that a home has access to their services. It's not required that they be provided for free. And, the utility companies don't have to provide the products that utilize the services. After all, the electric company isn't giving away table lamps to plug into the electrical outlets.
When you think of it like that, the burden here becomes that of the Internet service provider, which is now required to deliver at least 1 mbps of broadband, and soon 100 mbps, to every resident. Certainly, those providers would pass along their investment costs to their customers. But at least they would be in compliance with everyone's legal right.
And now, when other technologies emerge - whether smart grid electricity or Internet-powered television - the people of Finland will be ready for it, ahead of the curve.
Hmmm. Ahead of the curve on broadband technology, huh? Wouldn't it be nice for the U.S. to be in that tech camp again? Maybe - just maybe - Finland is on to something with this legal right to broadband thing.
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Talkback
RE: Finland's right to broadband: kind of like access to electricity, water
RE: Finland's right to broadband: kind of like access to electricity, water
<i>Broadband is a luxury just like cable TV an dother things. It's not a right.</i>
Tell that to people in the US who live in more remote areas that have no option of broadband at all. They can't truly participate in the modern Internet because they don't fit into the business model of some company. Never mind that the company only exists because the laws of the land, enacted by the people through their elected representatives, ALLOW the company to exist in the first place. That's the real insanity.
It's time to make the rules work for the people.
RE: Finland's right to broadband: kind of like access to electricity, water
Umm, it already does. There are these things called satellites and I've heard tell that there are companies such as Wild Blue and Hughes net that use them to offer, yes, broadband internet acess. Yes, it's more expensive and if you need to upload stuff it's a little slow, but then there is always a price to pay for a persons decisions.
RE: Finland's right to broadband: kind of like access to electricity, water
RE: Finland's right to broadband: kind of like access to electricity, water
I guess since Walmart's a necessity that we should make it guaranteed to everyone, too. Free Walmart for everyone! Whee, no more need for hunger, lack of TV sets, or crappy printers! Yay!
I can't imagine internet becoming the necessity that electricity is. Furthermore, we don't even guarantee electricity. This leads me to believe that Starman's dead on. As it grows it will leak to rural areas and they will have access. They live in the middle of nowhere, and it takes a long time to lay cable to there.
RE: Finland's right to broadband: kind of like access to electricity, water
RE: Finland's right to broadband: kind of like access to electricity, water
So they can't participate. I can't participate in the ballet, either.
The company only exists because of the creative efforts of entrepreneurs, not because of the fiat of legislators.
I have electric lights in my house because of Edison, not because of Obama.
RE: Finland's right to broadband: kind of like access to electricity, water
Have you ever used satellite internet? I have. It is spotty, unreliable, slow (yes, SLOW), and very expensive.
As for the "there is always a price to pay for a person's decisions," you are missing the point. Some people have no choice. It is either satellite, or dial-up... period. And if you're referring to the 'choice' of where they live, many people don't have much choice there either. Moving is expensive!
I think Finland is making a move in the right direction. The internet these days IS a utility. You can't really even find employment these days without a computer and internet connection. Even the lowest paying, crappy jobs are moving to online applications to reduce costs.
Quite frankly, the US is behind on many fronts. Especially in technology. Our internet connections here suck compared to most of the world, our cell service and devices are years behind, transportation is crap, energy provision is retarded. And the prices for most services are a good deal cheaper in Europe as well.
T'was a time when electricity was deemed a luxury too
Now try living without it!
In a world where many businesses are taking more of their wares online; where many basic service providers (water, electricity, gas etc) here in Australia are going "paperless"; where teaching facilities are moving more of their study resources to a paperless format, we are hitting a point where not having access to broadband is a severe disadvantage.
In the U.S. it would seem that such an uneven plying field is seen as the acceptable norm. Thank goodness that an increasing number of countries disagree with that way of thinking. That being said, whilst your coutry continues to bicker over which Telco supports this or that phone; whilst your country squabbles over this service or that and outages here and there; other countries will have seen the need for national services that actually work and have done something about it.
Enjoy sitting in the IT dark-age... afraid we won't be joining you!
RE: Finland's right to broadband: kind of like access to electricity, water
satellites need a clear view of the sky to work so if you live in a place where you have large trees that are not on your land forget it . Even the local company that has microwave service won't work because of the damm trees .
RE: Finland's right to broadband: kind of like access to electricity, water
<i>The people "allow" a company to operate?? I think not; where in the constitution is that?</i>
Business entities (LLCs, C corporations, S corporations, etc>) are legal constructs. Corporate personhood? A legal fiction.
These are things that come into being because the law allows them to exist. The law is created by the people through their elected representatives. Therefore, the people allow companies to exist.
The laws governing the formation of business entities are state-by-state. Additionally, interstate commerce is regulated by federal law. That's in Article 1, Section 8 of the US Constitution.
RE: Finland's right to broadband: kind of like access to electricity, water
RE: Finland's right to broadband: kind of like access to electricity, water
RE: Finland's right to broadband: kind of like access to electricity, water
In the real world, all utilities are subsidized, because universal (or near universal) access is an economic necessity. Access is guarenteed by making it a right.
Is broadband a utility?
Farmers (for example) are among the heaviest users of technology - GPS is becoming standard in tractors and combines because it makes good business sense, not because farmer's get lost easily. Fast, reliable internet access for everything from grain futures to the weather in Australia is no longer a luxury - current accurate information allows businesses to survive, and flourish.
Like it or not, subsidies for nearly every business have been an economic reality, in every society, since the beginning of time.
RE: Finland's right to broadband: kind of like access to electricity, water
I'm amazed at some people. How long has broadband been in existence? How long should it take to get to rurals areas. It really is possible to be pompus and selfish at the same time.
RE: Finland's right to broadband: kind of like access to electricity, water
ACCESS IS A RIGHT THOUGH!!
You are missing a point with all your chest puffing! We are NOT talking about giving away broadband connections for free. There is NO suggestion of making sure every citizen has broadband, without having to pay for it. It is about ensuring that EVERY citizen has ACCESS to broadband, should they choose/be able to pay for it!
Finland gets that; Australia is seriously working toward that... God, most of Europe gets it. Why is that the U.S is SO embroiled in the political Yah Hooing, that any kind of organised equalling of the field is viewed as some kind of move toward Communism? Seriously!?!
RE: Finland's right to broadband: kind of like access to electricity, water
How exactly did you "work hard" for internet access? Wasn't the offer of service just brought to your door? All you do is pay for the service, you did no work to bring it to your house. You really need to lose the "me and they" attitude and start considering the "we" side of things.
Re; AMEN the entitlement crap has got to stop.
So, you did not notice that it was the Finnish parliament making this valid for Finland ?
It was [b] not [/b] set as a human right, but as a [b] legal right IN Finland [/b].
But then again Finland tends to go past the US in technology advancements . US started all this (internet/arpanet), but now it seems that strong forces are willing to sacrifice the lead that the US had for the perceived benefit of their own interests.
This is NOT about human rights; it is about the [lb] legal rights [/b] that is likely to promote the technical advantages that Finland already has a fair amount of (hint: Nokia is Finnish).
RE: Finland's right to broadband: kind of like access to electricity, water