On December 2, 2003, with the preparation of Finland's National Broadband Strategy almost complete, the Ministry of Transport and Communications set up a working group to monitor implementation of the Strategy's measures and to report on this to the Government on a regular basis. The working group submitted its first Interim Report to the Government on the implementation of the National Broadband Strategy in December 2004 and its second in September 2005. This third Interim Report on broadband developments in 2006 was compiled by university trainee Maria Magi. The broadband working group is preparing to submit its Final Report at the end of its term on February 28, 2007.

Director-General, later Permanent Secretary, Harri Pursiainen from the Ministry of Transport and Communications was appointed chair of the working group, and Antti Kohtala from the same Ministry was appointed deputy chair. Those invited as members of the working group were as follows: Pekka Urjanheimo, Director of Regional Development at the Ministry of the Interior; Olavi Köngäs, Director of Information Management at the Ministry of Finance; Arvo Jäppinen, Director-General in the Department for Education and Science Policy at the Ministry of Education; Antti Eskola, Commercial Counsellor at the Ministry of Trade and Industry; Rauni Hagman, Director-General at the Finnish Communications Regulatory Authority (FICORA); Maarika Joutsimo, Head of Research at the Finnish Competition Authority; Marita Wilska, Consumer Ombudsman and Director-General of the Consumer Agency; Hannele Pohjola, Chief Policy Advisor at the Confederation of Finnish Industries; Reijo Svento, Managing Director of the Finnish Federation for Communications and Teleinformatics; Antti Mykkänen, Director of the Regional Council of Pohjois-Savo, and subsequently State Secretary at the Ministry of the Interior; and Leena Meisalo, Information Services Manager at the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities. Following the departure of Olavi Köngäs, he was replaced in September 2004 by Ministerial Advisor Arja Terho until the appointment of Leena Honka, State IT Manager, as the Ministry of Finance's representative in September 2005. With Maarika Joutsimo departing to take up new duties, the Finnish Competition Authority named Martti Virtanen, a Director at the Authority, as its representative, and following Leena Meisalo's departure, the Association of Finnish Local and Regional Authorities named Senior Advisor Simo Tanner as her replacement. The Confederation of Finnish Industries named Veijo Turunen, an Advisor at the Confederation, as its new representative. In August 2006, the Ministry of Education appointed Sakari Karjalainen, Director-General of the Department of Education and Science Policy, to replace Arvo Jäppinen, who had retired. Tatu Tuominen, a Senior Research Officer and subsequently Ministerial Advisor at the Ministry of Transport and Communications, was designated as secretary of the working group. The working group's term will expire on February 28, 2007.

The Government approved the National Broadband Strategy on January 29, 2004, and on February 3, 2005, on the proposal of the working group, it issued a new Resolution revising the Strategy.

The National Broadband Strategy focuses on promoting competition within and between all communications networks, promoting the provision of electronic services and content, stimulating demand for broadband services, and continuing the special development measures in those areas in which there is insufficient demand for the commercial supply of broadband facilities.

In approving the National Broadband Strategy, the Government at the same time approved the set of 50 measures set out within it. The Government's adoption of the subsequent Resolution brought with it a further nine measures together with plans to increase the resources for developing mobile broadband solutions that will complement and be interoperable with fixed network broadband services. The Government also called for the accelerated development of content and service production and for the removal of barriers to competition.

The targets regarding the number of connections and the availability of fixed network broadband services were attained in June 2005, six months ahead of schedule. Accordingly, the working group observed in its previous report that the strategy has already largely been implemented. The working group stressed that since the broadband strategy has proved successful, its principles should be maintained as the basis for broadband policy.

Implementation of measures has been continued, and official measures to open up competition have been enhanced. The growth in the number of broadband connections in Finland has been the third fastest in Europe. As in the previous year, the growth rate slowed during the summer but picked up again in the autumn. However, the saturation of the broadband market and recent price increases by operators have had a dampening effect.

There has been a continuous improvement in the regional availability of broadband. The bulk of the work to achieve this has been done by the municipalities and regional councils, whose regional broadband strategies are being put into effect in all parts of the country. Currently, access to fixed network broadband services is possible for 96 per cent of Finnish households, and, as the regional strategies are implemented, this will improve to about 98 per cent. Nevertheless, it is significant that only about 50 per cent of Finnish households have so far acquired a broadband connection.

The provision of wireless connections complementing the fixed network will allow the remaining households to be brought within reach of broadband. A total of 29 permits for regional radio systems for wireless networks have been granted for various parts of the country, and processing of new permits at FICORA will begin after November.

The Government's decision to grant an operating licence to Digita Oy for the construction of a national digital mobile network using Flash-OFDM technology will, on completion, bring broadband connections within reach of everyone throughout the country, even holiday homes in remote areas. However, construction of the network has been delayed by almost a year from the original timetable due to a complaint registered against the decision and to the undeveloped state of the technology. The network will probably be in widespread use by April 2007.

The original targets of the National Broadband Strategy have already been achieved. The target was to have 1,000,000 connections in Finland by the end of 2005. At the end of September 2006, the number of connections was 1,430,000. Also, the availability of fixed network broadband services was to have reached 95 percent; in September 2006, it was 96 per cent. The third target, namely that Finland should retain its fourth place in the EU broadband connection rankings, was met and exceeded, Finland ranking third in September 2006.

The National Broadband Strategy's remaining targets not yet fulfilled are that the most common broadband connection speed should be at least 8 Mbit/s by 2007, and that by the same year, 90 per cent of all Internet connections should be broadband connections. A further target is that Finland should become a world leader in the use of broadband services by the end of 2007.

The working group will produce a Final Report by the end of its term on February 28, 2007 to evaluate the need for and content of any future measures. The National Broadband Strategy has obviously proved successful, and there is still every reason to maintain its principles as the basis for Finland's broadband policy.

In the future, a key requirement is to continue to develop and maintain healthy competition in the communications market. Above all, competition is a way of ensuring affordable and high-quality services for the end user. Prices dropped by about 45 per cent in the first year and about 45 per cent again in the second year. There have been no further major price changes in 2006, and thus it may be considered that a well-functioning competitive environment has served to stabilize prices at an appropriate level.

Helsinki, October 24, 2006

Harri Pursiainen
Permanent Secretary
Chair of working group

Tatu Tuominen
Ministerial Advisor
Secretary