 |
||
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
Covering letter to the Interim Report II on 27 October 2005 To the Government: 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. Director-General Harri Pursiainen from the Communications Department of the Ministry of Transport and Communications was appointed chair of the working group, and Antti Kohtala, Director of the Unit for Networks and Competition at the 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; 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. 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 working group has monitored the progress made in implementing the National Broadband Strategy and gives its progress assessment in this report. It also presents a summary of the measures taken so far. According to the European Commission's latest estimates, the growth in the number of broadband connections in Finland is the fastest in Europe. There has also 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 more than 95 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 40 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. 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. The communications market is continuing to develop at a considerable pace and new technologies are being introduced. Technical solutions and services that are more affordable and diverse are already on the market. The increase in the data transmission speed of connections has already been significant. For technical and commercial reasons and because of the regional structure, a characteristic of the dynamic development taking place is that the speed, quality and price of broadband connections varies from one region to the next and according to the market situation. The original targets of the National Broadband Strategy have already been achieved. The target of 1,000,000 connections by the end of 2005 was exceeded by September, when the total already reached about 1,100,000. In the same month, the target of at least 95 per cent availability for fixed network broadband services had been exceeded too, reaching 95.3 per cent. The third target, namely that Finland should retain its fourth place in the EU broadband connection rankings, was also met in September, when Finland ranked third. In its previous report, the working group proposed an additional target: the speed of most of Finland's broadband connections should be at least 2 Mbit/s by the end of 2005. This target has also been surpassed. 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 National Broadband Strategy has proved successful and there is still every reason to maintain its principles as the basis for Finland's broadband policy. In the future, attention should still be given to ensuring that both commercial and public services offered in the networks are developed in such a way that acquiring broadband is seen as an attractive proposition throughout society and in all walks of life. Another 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. If shortcomings are found in the competitive environment, competition will be maintained through actions by the authorities. The communications and competition authorities are continuing their concerted efforts, with the aim of ensuring healthy competition, which, in turn, will keep prices at an affordable level and ensure a high level of service. Accelerating the development of various factors to facilitate the construction of next-generation networks remains an important priority of the working group. The information society of the future will be one in which services are available everywhere to everyone and at any time. Attention must also be given to the opportunities for developing inter-product communication. The working group respectfully submits this second monitoring report on the National Broadband Strategy to the Government. Helsinki, September 30, 2005
Harri Pursiainen Antti Kohtala Pekka Urjanheimo Reijo Svento Simo Tanner Arvo Jäppinen Martti Virtanen Rauni Hagman Leena Honka Antti Eskola Antti Mykkänen Marita Wilska Veijo Turunen Tatu Tuominen
|