ABSTRACT
Finland gained independence from Russia in 1917, but is still influenced by its large eastern neighbour. It has also traditionally had close links with Sweden to its east, with Swedish being Finland’s second official language. Finland’s population of 5.2 million benefits from a strong economy, which is highly liberalized but with a large public sector. The information technology and electronics sectors make a significant contribution to the economy, with telecoms equipment manufacturer, Nokia, alone accounting for almost 4 percent of Gross Domestic Product. Voting for the Eduskunta (parliament) is by proportional representation. This has frequently resulted in the formation of coalitions, the current government comprising five parties headed by the Social Democratic Party. Elections for the Eduskunta will be held in 2003. Finland is the only Nordic country to date to have adopted the European Monetary Unit, with the Euro introduced in January 2002.1
Similar to the previous chapter on Sweden, the main focus of this chapter is the transition from analogy to digital terrestrial television broadcasting in Finland. Finland commenced digital terrestrial television transmissions on 27 August 2001. It was the sixth country worldwide to do so and the fourth European country after United Kingdom (November 1998), Sweden (April 1999) and Spain (May 2000). The first section briefly outlines the history, structure, regulation and financial operation of Finnish television broadcasting prior to the commencement of digital terrestrial transmissions. Then follows an account of the introduction of digital terrestrial television in Finland. The next section relates the experience of digital terrestrial television in Finland during its first year. The final section discusses the implications of the introduction of digital terrestrial television for each of the main players involved, namely, the government, viewers, the public service broadcaster and commercial broadcasters.
