"Everyone already had dialup access."
Not exactly true.
Because this "right to have broadband" mess started in Finland, here is another tidbit of information from said country: telco(s) are pulling away their copper wires now when (almost) whole country has cellphone coverage.
It is too expensive to maintain copper in sparsely populated areas when people are mainly using cellphones.
No more dialup there. At least in northern parts of Finland.
Slashdot Mirror
"Everyone already had dialup access." Not exactly true. Because this "right to have broadband" mess started in Finland, here is another tidbit of information from said country: telco(s) are pulling away their copper wires now when (almost) whole country has cellphone coverage. It is too expensive to maintain copper in sparsely populated areas when people are mainly using cellphones. No more dialup there. At least in northern parts of Finland.
"And why is it that construction grinds to a halt when only one of the member nations involved grounds its shuttles?"
There is only one member nation with shuttles...
Nasa's shuttle is the only vehicle able to carry big enough loads up there.
That's why.