Nevertheless, this is a historic decision since the Finnish government has traditionally avoided active involvement and preferred to let market forces to lead industry development. As said by Eselinen, Frank and Hirvonen in “Does strategy matter? A comparison of broadband rollout policies in Finland and Sweden“:
The Finnish broadband strategy proposal, published in December 2003 reflects the legacy of the general Finnish telecommunications policy. In contrast to its Swedish counterpart, it relies on market forces and emphasizes technological neutrality. According to its operational aims, by the end of 2005 the household penetration rate of broadband should be 40%, all citizens should have access to high-speed, easy-to-use and affordable data transfer, and Finland should be among the leading European countries measured by communication network demand and accessibility. These aims were pursued by means of 50 action points, putting most emphasis on measures promoting competition in the broadband markets, the provision of services and content in the networks, and strengthening the demand for broadband. The proposal also included action points for low-demand areas. These included recommendations for creating regional strategies for broadband deployment, increasing competition in local markets, and providing schools and libraries with public broadband connections. However, no government funding for broadband infrastructure investments was made available, which was against widespread expectations partly fuelled by the Swedish policy model.
Read more in “State support proposed for high-speed broadband“.
