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The rapid growth of the Internet has been one of the most remarkable developments in the telecommunications sector in recent years. The number of computers linked to the network has doubled annually and the network has constantly operated at the limits of its capacity. This informal 'network of networks' that started off in universities has produced an ever-increasing range of enticing communications services. Finland has been one of the most enthusiastic users of the Internet. The Finnish University and Research Network (FUNET), founded in 1984, committed itself early on to the TCP/IP protocol, which is the foundation of the Internet.
The choice was an auspicious one, as Finland today has more computers per capita linked to the Internet than any other country in the world. According to the host count carried out by Network Wizards, there were about half a million Internet nodes registered in Finland, but now only one quarter of them are in the network of organisations belonging to FUNET. Apart from FUNET, which offers network services to universities and research institutes, there are numerous commercial Internet service providers, of which Telia-Sonera, Saunalahti and Elisa Communications are the biggest. The Internet is also used widely. It is popular to pay bills and do other home banking via the Internet. There are excellent telecommunication links from Finland and Scandinavia to other European countries and the US, and the load on them is increasing while faster connections are made available. FUNET is known worldwide for its file server ftp.funet.fi, from which thousands of users worldwide obtain programs, documents and other material. Linux, a freely available operating system developed in Finland, is especially popular. - Courtesy Virtual Finland/Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Finland
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