Translated material
Megabit guarantee
Finland was the first to legislate the right of citizens to high-speed Internet
The world's first law guaranteeing citizens access to the Internet at high speed appeared in Finland. The republic's authorities claim that they were prompted to take an unprecedented step by realizing how important the global network is for the average Finn. Governments of other countries have so far only promised to increase the speed and size of the network audience, but are not seeking to adopt legislation on nationwide Internetization, much less guarantee a high-speed channel to the World Wide Web.From July 1, every Finn is guaranteed the right to connect to a communication channel with a speed of at least 1 Mbit/sec, reports the BBC. The responsibility to ensure such a lower speed threshold falls on the shoulders of providers. The Finnish authorities plan to connect all residents of the country to a two-megabit channel. This should happen by 2012. “We looked at the role the Internet plays in Finnish everyday life. Finland has done a lot to create an information society. We realized that the Internet is no longer used only for entertainment purposes,” Finnish Minister of Telecommunications Suvi Linden explained to the BBC the reasons for the authorities’ attention to this issue.
If you believe the statistics, Finland is an ideal candidate for the pioneers of universal Internetization. According to the BBC, up to 96% of the population of this country has constant access to the Internet. Other developed countries have lower penetration rates. According to InternetWordsStats, in the Netherlands this figure is 90.1% of citizens, in Norway - 87.7%, in Canada - 84.3%, in Sweden - 77.4%, in Japan - 73.8% , in the USA - 72.5% of the population. And the global average Internet coverage of the population is 21%. Meanwhile, a survey commissioned by the BBC earlier this year found that almost 80% of respondents worldwide believe that access to the Internet should become a fundamental individual right.
The UK, where 73% of citizens already have Internet access, appears to be on the path to universal network rights. The UK government has promised to provide a minimum Internet access speed of at least 2 Mbit/s by 2012. for all British people. True, the promises have not yet taken the form of law. Meanwhile, public opinion polls suggest that for the British, broadband access to the Internet has become as urgent a need as electricity and running water.
In Russia, perhaps, there can still be no talk of a universal right to the Internet. The recently published results of a study by the Public Opinion Foundation, “Internet in Russia. Spring 2010” show that the level of Internet penetration among the masses is 37%, and two-thirds of this audience are active users. Compared to the winter of this year, the Russian Internet audience increased by 5% and, according to FOM, continues to grow steadily. But Svetlana Petukhova, a specialist in the FOM “Internet in Russia” project, in principle, does not consider a guaranteed right to the Internet necessary. In her opinion, it is important to clearly define security issues, access rights for minors and similar aspects of online life in legislation. In a conversation with a Vremya Novostei correspondent, she emphasized that our country is moving towards the ideal of “Internet in every home” in two directions - technical support and increasing computer literacy of the population. But in the Russian outback there is not only high-speed Internet, but even just computers. The results of the FOM study also indicate that the Internetization of the Russian population is primarily hampered by technical problems. Ms. Petukhova said that citizens who have not yet accessed the Internet are divided into three types: “The reserve are people who would like to use the Internet, but do not have the technical ability. Refuseniks are those who fundamentally do not want to go online. A small category of citizens assures that they will use the Internet in the near future. But the proportion of those who cannot afford to connect to the Internet is much larger than everyone else.”