Finland has become the first country in the world to make broadband internet access a legal right. While countries like France have declared guaranteed web access a human right, Finland is the first country to codify the provisions into a law..The Ministry of Transport and Communication has drafted a legislation, which will come into effect from July 2010, that makes access to a 1 Mbps broadband connection a legal right for all its citizens. The Government intends to increase the speed of the connection to 100 Mbps by 2015, says the Transport and Communications Minister Suvi Linden..Statistics indicate that Finland is already one of the world’s most connected countries, with 96 percent of its 5.3 million population online. The Transport and Communications Minister, however, says that the mandate was necessary in order to improve the availability of internet in Finland’s remote rural areas..According to TRAI statistics, India currently has about 6.7 million broadband subscribers and a mandate of 20 million broadband users by 2010. However, whether the remaining 13.3 million users can be targeted in the space of little more than a year, remains to be seen. Overall, only about 0.5 percent of India’s population has access to broadband services.
Finland has become the first country in the world to make broadband internet access a legal right. While countries like France have declared guaranteed web access a human right, Finland is the first country to codify the provisions into a law..The Ministry of Transport and Communication has drafted a legislation, which will come into effect from July 2010, that makes access to a 1 Mbps broadband connection a legal right for all its citizens. The Government intends to increase the speed of the connection to 100 Mbps by 2015, says the Transport and Communications Minister Suvi Linden..Statistics indicate that Finland is already one of the world’s most connected countries, with 96 percent of its 5.3 million population online. The Transport and Communications Minister, however, says that the mandate was necessary in order to improve the availability of internet in Finland’s remote rural areas..According to TRAI statistics, India currently has about 6.7 million broadband subscribers and a mandate of 20 million broadband users by 2010. However, whether the remaining 13.3 million users can be targeted in the space of little more than a year, remains to be seen. Overall, only about 0.5 percent of India’s population has access to broadband services.