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Comment by rwmj | Hacker News Reader

It's depressing that many governments simply don't understand that providing high speed cheap internet should be the number 1 priority for encouraging growth in technology sectors.

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Finland does :) It is the first country in the world to make broadband access a fundamental right of every citizen! And the speed is ensured to be at least 100 Mbps by 2015.

Last summer we listened to music in a rowing boat in a lake in the middle of nowhere in Finland. Streaming from YouTube. It felt somehow wrong. Like "into the wild", with a 20€ unlimited data plan, and the ability to send live video from the forest. Later, when driving back to civilization, we spent 2 hours playing our favorite tracks in a moving car. Again streaming.

Linus Torvalds: "Q: How do you know you are in the middle of nowhere in Finland? A: Sometimes your cellphone downgrades from HSPA to 3G." https://plus.google.com/+LinusTorvalds/posts/LuhjmWpAgVi

The German government DOES understand this and has already announced to Telekom that they will thoroughly investigate the plans, implying that they may find a way to prevent this.

We have campaign period at the moment. The government will talk about everything to look competent. If they do something after the election I may be inclined to believe that they really understand the issue. Prediction (based on their actions in the last years): That won't happen.

The German government just talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk. They will rely on voluntary agreements of the Telekom and this will be it.

The current government just don't care about the net, acts even hostile against it.

They could just issue a mandate in the kind of "every citizen shall have 6MBit and no less" like they did with ISDN back in the 90s, but I don't think this will ever happen with CDU/CSU/FDP.

It doesn't prevent growth in tech sectors in the US.

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