Finland Knows the Value of Broadband

Recently, there was an interesting story about the Finnish government establishing a goal to bring a 100Mbps or faster internet connection within 1.5 miles of all its citizens.  Their plan also paves the way for gigabit speeds to be made available by 2015.

“Data connections are no longer entertainment but a necessity,” said Harri Pursiainen, the permanent secretary for the transport and communications minister (in Finland? Or of what area?). ”Regional, equal communications infrastructure will not come about without state action.”

What are the good citizens of Finland paying for all this speed?  One cable service provider, Welho, charges customers around 80 dollars for a 110Mbps connection.  Last time I checked, I was paying around half that price for only 3 Mbps.  So why such a huge price difference?  Let’s see ... how about a general lack of real competition, lack of government incentives, no regulatory benchmarks like we have for the upcoming transition to digital TV in February, and perhaps a little corporate greed (come on ... just a little)?  In some respects, the United States is a victim of its own success.  This country led the way in developing infrastructure for telecommunications and the internet.  But now, in order to achieve nation-wide broadband speeds of 100Mbps and greater, a lot of expensive equipment needs to be upgraded.

We have a unique opportunity in the USA right now.  Shortly, there will be new leaders in the Congress, Senate and the White House.  So again I ask you; start writing those emails and making phone calls to ask your newly elected officials to put the USA on the same playing field as the rest of the world.  We cannot afford to lose this race.