Wireless Internet Connects 1.4 Million Citizens in Estonia

Walk down the cobblestone streets with medieval houses that look straight out of storybooks, and it's hard to believe that Tallinn - a city that has been sacked, pillaged and bombed numerous times over the centuries - still retains much of its past. But while this capital city of Estonia - a north-European country along the eastern coast of the Baltic Sea - remains a living museum, it's also a high-tech hotbed. For instance, the technologies for Skype and Baidu were developed in this country. Recently with the latest group of Wi-Fi access points installed, this 45,000-square-kilometer former Soviet nation is now also completely covered with wireless Internet access, setting an example for more-developed and richer states that have been trying to achieve this feat for years.

Often called "E-stonia" by geeks, every one of its 1.4 million residents - half of whom live in the suburbs and rural areas - is connected by wireless Internet. More than two-thirds of the population conduct personal banking transactions and file taxes online. And students access their schools' servers and connect to national libraries from home - or anywhere for that matter. In Estonia, it's even possible to travel between cities by trains and buses and maintain Wi-Fi Internet access.

Above all, much of this access is virtually free. Users do not pay any access charges directly in most locations. Interestingly this nationwide wireless deployment has been achieved with almost no government support. Other than a few schools and libraries that have been set up by the Estonian government, the 1,100-plus Wi-Fi hotspots that span the country, covering every nook and corner, have been set up by small businesses, such as hotels, cafes, groceries and gas stations, along with the four national telecom companies. The whole effort is driven largely by just one man: Veljo Haamer, a technology geek who conceived this dream of wiring - or rather unwiring - his country about six years ago.


Veljo's Vision
"I realized back in 2002 that, for Estonia, the Internet could be just like electricity," said Haamer, editor of WiFi.ee, a nonprofit association he and a group of volunteers created. "And just as it happened 100 years back, when initially people did not care about electricity, Estonians too, were not bothered about the Internet."

That is when, Haamer said, he became a technology evangelist and began promoting free Internet access as a human right. "I took upon myself, the task of convincing everyone I could that the benefits of the Internet are enormous," he said. Through newspaper articles and visual signs, and the first step of setting up approximately 100 free Wi-Fi hotspots, Haamer and Wifi.ee demonstrated the Internet's power on everyday life.

"It took us a while to drive the concept home, but having achieved that, the rest wasn't very difficult," said Haamer. "We, were able to create a competitive environment between businesses, like competition between different cafes or hotels, and soon the numbers [of Wi-Fi hotspots] started growing rapidly. That's how the concept caught on and eventually almost every school, household and business - big and small - joined the movement."

The most interesting aspect of Estonia's public Web access business model is that a user doesn't pay separately for the access, and so it feels as if it comes free. "The price of the access is actually built into the cup of coffee you buy at the cafe, or in the bus and train fare, or the meal or anything you pay for," Haamer said. "Moreover, the price that one pays extra is miniscule, so it doesn't pinch." That's one way of paying for the access. The other one is even simpler: People pay with their eyeballs. For connecting to the Internet where there's no sales outlet, such as in a park, government building or public library,

one can gain access just by clicking on an advertisement.

There is, of course, paid-for access as well, where a "ticket" could be bought simply through a text message via mobile phone.


Technology Inspires
Haamer said his idea of wiring his country was borrowed from the Wi-Fi employments in the United States. "I was fascinated when I visited Bryant Park in New York [City] and saw people communicate with nycwireless.net," he said. "I decided that I must roll out a similar network in my country."

With the decision made, it took Haamer several trips to the United States to study the "problems of setting up city-nets" faced by cities like Seattle, Boston and Portland before he could zero in on his business model for Estonia.

The result of that research is that there isn't just one technology that blankets Estonia. A mix of technologies - Wi-Fi, WiMAX and CDMA 450v - has been used. "Technology is not an issue with me. I favor anything that works," said Haamer. "What is important is a trouble-free Internet access."

"Initially when I embarked on this mission [of wiring Estonia], many said that if citywide public access had not proved successful in rich countries, it can't work in Estonia either. But now, Estonia has set an example," Haamer said.

So what's next? "I believe that broadband isn't just a technology-enabler; it should be considered an essential service just like electricity or health services," said Haamer. WiFi.ee is now actively working to involve the central and local governments to open limited-speed broadband absolutely free to be supported by the government. Haamer and his small group of volunteers have already done that, he claims, on some small groups that involved both the local governments and local Internet service providers; soon that rollout would achieve a much bigger scale.

"I am confident that by 2010, Estonia would again be another 'first' by achieving the feat of offering a nationwide [limited-speed] broadband service that's free in the real sense," he said.

Meanwhile, having established itself as one of the most wired countries in Europe, Estonia is also emerging as an important destination for global e-commerce ventures, according to E-Commerce News, which reports that the Internet's growth has made Estonia one of the world's largest per capita users of online banking, and impressively, now ranks seventh in the 25-member European Union for broadband Internet penetration.