THE TERRITORIAL AVAILABILITY AND DIFFUSION OF BROADBAND IN FINLAND: LESSONS FROM FINNISH BROADBAND POLICY

Although there is no unambiguous definition of what an Information Society (IS) is actually composed of, the availability and use of information and communications technology (ICT) can be considered as an established part of it. This article examines the case of one IS indica-tor: the measurement of the availability of broadband in Finland from the year 2001 to 2004. The focus is on the overall sensibility of the use of an indicator, the evolution of territorial differences at different spatial scales, and the effectiveness of the broadband policy in Finland in the years 2001 to 2004. The analysis shows that the indicators of the availability of broadband might be misleading for purposes of policy formulation and monitoring. The results also indicate that the Finnish broadband policy has resulted in regional differences and spatially uneven impacts in terms of availability. This article is an outgrowth of the ESPON project “Identification of Spatially Relevant as-pects of the Information Society”