Internet in Finland

The internet in Finland was heralded in 1984 by the creation of the Finnish University and Research Network (FUNET) connecting universities, polytechnics, and other research facilities. This was followed, in 1986, by the registration of the top-level domain .fi for Finland. In 1988, FUNET was connected to the global internet through NORDUnet, a network of national research and education networks in Nordic countries.

In 1993, commercial sales of internet connections began in the country. ^[1] In 2000, broadband internet access was launched commercially and, in 2010, Finland has become the first country in the world to make internet access a legal right. ^{[2] [3]}

History

In 1984, the Finnish University and Research Network (FUNET) was created to link Finnish universities. The network provide providing network connections for Finnish universities and polytechnics as well as other research facilities.

In 1986, the .fi top-level domain was registered. This was followed in 1988, by FUNET being connected to the global internet through NORDUnet in 1988.

FICIX was created in 1993 to interconnect Finnish IP networks and commercial sales of internet connections began. ^[1]

Broadband

Broadband internet access in Finland was launched commercially in 2000 in the form of ADSL.^{[ citation needed ]}

In October 2009, Finland's Ministry of Transport and Communications committed to ensuring that every person in Finland can access the internet at a minimum speed of one megabit per second starting July 2010. ^[3]

As of December 2021 ^[update] :

• 80 % of Finnish households have the option of purchasing landline internet of at least 10 Mbit/s, with 71 % having an option for at least 100 Mbit/s and 60 % having an option for at least 1000 Mbit/s
• 99.4 % of Finnish homes are within range of a 30 Mbit/s 4G mobile internet connenction, while 77.1 % are reached by a 300 Mbit/s 5G connection. ^[4]

Internet service providers

Some of the largest Finnish Internet service providers include:

• Telia
• Elisa
• DNA ^[5]

Censorship

Main articles: Internet censorship in Finland and Lapsiporno.info

Some ISPs are using a voluntary child pornography censorship list administered by the police. The list has been criticised because it has contained legal adult content, that little has been done to actually shut down the illegal websites and, as the list is secret, it can be used for any censorship. More recently, a government-sponsored report has considered establishing similar filtering in order to curb online gambling. ^[6]

Also, there are legally binding court orders to block The Pirate Bay issued to all major ISPs. ^{[7] [8]}

Web browsers

As of 2024, most used web browsers according to Statcounter were:

Web browser	Market share	Reference
Chrome	71%	[9]
Safari	11%	[9]
Firefox	7.8%	[9]
Edge	5.0%	[9]
Samsung Internet	2.0%	[9]
Opera	1.6%	[9]
Yandex Browser	0.17%	[9]
UC Browser	0.09%	[9]
Explorer	0.09%	[9]
other	0.23%	[9]

As of 2024, most used web browsers according to Cloudflare were:

Web browser	Market share	Reference
Chrome	62%	[10]
Safari	14%	[10]
Firefox	8.9%	[10]
Edge	7.3%	[10]
Samsung Internet	2.9%	[10]
Opera	1.6%	[10]
Brave	1.2%	[10]
Yandex Browser	0.49%	[10]
DuckDuckGo Private Browser	0.33%	[10]
Avast Secure Browser	0.06%	[10]
Aloha Browser	0.04%	[10]
Mi Browser	0.04%	[10]

See also

• Right to Internet access
• Telecommunications in Finland

References

1. "History of Internet in Finland". ISOC Finland. 9 August 2004. Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 11 January 2011.
2. "Finland makes broadband a 'legal right'". BBC. 1 July 2010. Retrieved 16 July 2010.
3. Beaumont, Claudine (15 October 2009). "Finland makes fast broadband a legal right". The Telegraph . Retrieved 2 May 2010.
4. Finnish Transport and Communications Agency. "Monitori" . Retrieved 5 September 2022.
5. "Etusivu Welho Verkkokauppa". Archived from the original on 20 July 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2010.
6. "Censorship is the answer". blog.anta.net. 18 January 2008. ISSN   1797-1993. Archived from the original on 18 November 2008. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
7. "Elisa hävisi Pirate Bay -kiistan - KKO ei antanut valituslupaa" (in Finnish). 29 October 2012.
8. "DNA:n ja TeliaSoneran The Pirate Bay -esto pysyy" (in Finnish). Archived from the original on 4 February 2015. Retrieved 4 February 2015.
9. "Browser Market Share Finland". statcounter.com. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
10. "Browser Market Share Report for 2024 Q4". cloudflare.com. Cloudflare, Inc. 21 January 2025. Retrieved 23 March 2025.

External links

• History of Internet in Finland