A piece of news briefly surfaced this summer before being overtaken by anxious political events. Namely, it was announced that Estonia ranks 67th in the broadband speed ranking by the website speedtest.net, falling behind countries like Russia, Vietnam and Moldova.

This means that our communication capabilities are in a rather lackluster state, although, not long ago, the Ministry of Education and Research's funding decisions included an announcement that Estonia supported the "Digital Transformation of Moldovan Education" with over half a million euros. The project's goal is to "contribute to the accessibility and quality improvement of Moldovan education through the development of digital capabilities."

Considering our ranking, one might wonder if it should be the other way around and if someone should come to our aid instead.

Honestly, the constant "waiting for the internet" makes life quite cumbersome. It's one thing when it affects entertainment, like a frozen screen while watching a series, but nowadays, many people's work is directly dependent on the internet. As we saw with the e-exams held in the spring, the seemingly dull phrase "communication service capability" can become a crucial issue in people's lives.

At least 75 percent of the population in Estonia uses the internet daily, and in addition to individuals, various state and private sector institutions use it extensively. It brings to mind just how crucial restored internet capabilities were for Ukraine at the beginning of the war when communication networks were damaged by the Russians.

Given that security has been the number one issue in Estonia in recent years, the lack of attention to such a vital piece of news is surprising.

The issue isn't just about a cyberattack that might hit government agencies. It broadly concerns the population's ability to cope when, in a crisis situation, all networks – which are already not working properly – suddenly come under enormous strain. How will important messages reach citizens through a frozen TV screen, a dropped mobile connection or a radio signal fading into static?

I can share a bit from my own experience. I switched mobile operators some time ago because making calls with a mobile phone – and no one uses landlines anymore – became unbearably difficult. The number often wouldn't dial, and during calls, the other person or I would turn into a robot spewing fragmented syllables. Calls would drop randomly, and so on.

Switching helped; the situation improved somewhat. Until I came to my country home in Western Estonia. Living here feels like being back in the 1990s when, to talk on the mobile phone or use mobile internet, you had to "drive to where there's signal." Moreover, my mobile router and phone have different operators, yet neither works properly.

All the fantastic app developments and other e-leaps are useless if the most basic thing – the proper functioning of communication networks – is missing.

The news about our placement in the mud league of internet networks confirmed what life had already proven: communication services in Estonia are quite poor.

This assessment can also be extended to a metaphorical level. Let us recall a quote from Lennart Meri that broadens the topic of communication networks: "The faster the development, the more important one's connection with the past."

Connections are weak in Estonia. Family ties are breaking, friendships are weakening, the connection with history is becoming increasingly fragile, the ability to create associations is diminishing and communication between the people and those in power is almost completely severed... In a way, the state of technological communication networks also reflects the state of our mental connections.

Something needs to be done urgently about both.

One can only hope that despite poor communication conditions, this thought gets through.

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